Top Chrysler Exec Snared On CU Loan

DETROIT – Jim Press, the deputy chief executive at Chrysler, has been sued by Western FCU for failing to repay more than $400,000 on a mortgage loan dating back to his brief stint as chief of Toyota’s U.S. operations.

The loan is one of several financial problems facing the 62-year-old auto executive, who also owes almost $1 million in back taxes to the IRS, according to court records.

Press arranged last year to repay almost $610,000 owed to the credit union, which ended up with the loan after acquiring Toyota FCU. But his repayment plans were derailed when Chrysler canceled year-end executive bonuses as it plunged toward bankruptcy, according to the records.

One of several leadership hires by Chrysler in 2007, Press was lured from Toyota to rebuild the automaker by private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP.

Press and his wife have a nearly 6,900-square-foot house in Birmingham, Michigan, a Detroit suburb, county records show. That New England-style home with six bedrooms has been listed for sale at $3.15 million, according to a listing with a local realtor.

Press and the credit union reached an agreement in June 2008 for the executive to repay the unsecured line of credit he had with Toyota. He paid $200,000 immediately and prepared to pay the nearly $610,000 balance plus interest over three payments. He made a payment in August 2008, but missed payments in November 2008 and February as the U.S. auto industry and Chrysler faltered.