Big break: Joining Fiat Chrysler in 2013 as head of U.S. market representation and dealer network diversity

Bashar Cholagh is right in the middle of Fiat Chrysler's efforts to add hundreds of dealerships across the U.S.

Cholagh directs the development of the strategic dealer network plan in the U.S. for all FCA brands, including Alfa Romeo and Mas-erati.

"This is an extremely critical time for FCA in the U.S., because during the bankruptcy the US government required termination of 789 dealer franchises," Cholagh wrote to Automotive News. "This has left significant gaps in our dealer network to date, and with our eye on growing our sales and market share in the U.S. we will need to have a viable number of dealer rooftops for us to meet our targets and compete effectively with other OEMs."

Cholagh directed the development of an automated process to streamline FCA's dealer network planning function by using data sets -- registrations, demographics, loyalty/conquest/defection information -- to create what he calls a "holistic" understanding of FCA's performance in a given market.

Previously in his career, Cholagh created a system to encourage North American manufacturing facilities to share best practices and automated tool solutions to reduce redundancy in work.

-- Larry P. Vellequette