DECEMBER 13, 2001

Folz to head ACEA

ACEA, the European association of automobile manufacturers, is the organization behind plans to launch a Grand Prix World Championship in 2008. It is currently headed by Fiat chairman Paolo Cantarella but from January 1 the Italian will stand down and the job will be handed over to Jean-Martin Folz, the head of PSA Peugeot-Citroen.

Folz has only been in the automotive trade since 1995. Prior to that he worked in the French civil service before going into industry with the Rhone-Poulenc chemical company. Since he took over PSA Peugeot-Citroen in 1998 he has turned the company into a high successful business.

Folz is not great fan of motorsport although he is using the World Rally Championship to promote the products of both Peugeot and Citroen. It was under his control, however, that Peugeot pulled out of its disastrous Formula 1 program. It will be interesting to see if Folz agrees with other car manufacturers over the plans for a new racing series. Having said that it is not really an issue as the GPWC company is not actually an ACEA company but rather an independent business established by five of the European companies: Fiat, Ford, Renault, BMW and DaimlerChrysler.

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