secret meeting June 9 between Chrysler Group LLC CEO Sergio Marchionne and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood at a Chicago airport helped avert a major clash between the Auburn Hills automaker and federal auto safety regulators over 2.7 million Jeep SUVs that regulators said posed a fire risk….
met at the Federal Aviation Administration office at O’Hare International Airport. LaHood drove up from his home in Peoria, Ill., while Marchionne flew in from Italy and Strickland took a flight from Washington. After a tough, hour-long “frank” meeting, the sides agreed to try to settle the matter, and Marchionne sent a team of engineers to Washington the next day to work with NHTSA on the outlines of a fix.
“Once he (Marchionne) met with David and I in Chicago, he knew this had to get done,” LaHood said. “(Marchionne) didn’t realize how serious this was, how serious we were, and the thing was resolved satisfactorily. .... We pretty much reached an agreement there.”
From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130620/AUTO0101/306200118#ixzz2Wt4qxZbK
