Reply #41: Doubts Rising About a Venture to Import Chinese Cars [View All]

[54anickel]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/07/automobiles/07auto.html?

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Two top executives said in interviews on Monday that they had recently left Visionary, a privately held company based in New York, after only short stays. After just three months on the job, Pierre Gagnon, the president and chief operating officer and the No. 2 executive at Visionary, said Monday that he had resigned that day. But he added that he had had a falling out six weeks ago with the head of Visionary, Malcolm Bricklin.

Mr. Bricklin is the brash businessman - often likened to an automotive version of P. T. Barnum - who first brought the Yugo and Subaru brands to the United States.

"Malcolm reneged on several agreements that affect my trust and willingness to be part of his organization," said Mr. Gagnon, formerly the top North American executive of Mitsubishi. "I still have high hopes for what it might be possible for Visionary Vehicles to achieve and wish him the best."

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The second executive to leave was Andrew Stewart, who worked with Mr. Gagnon at Saturn and Mitsubishi and was the vice president of franchise development at Visionary. He said he left at the end of April and returned to Mitsubishi.

"I left one month after I started," Mr. Stewart said. "It became very, very clear, as much as I believe in what he's trying to do, it became clear he's not able to fulfill the promises necessary to create a viable company.

"The man doesn't have any money that I could see," he added. "He doesn't pay his employees on a regular basis, he doesn't reimburse expenses very well."

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