Christian Streiff, the new head of PSA Peugeot-Citroën, has given 100 top managers 100 days to draw up plans to meet the challenges facing Europe's second biggest car maker.
Mr Streiff, briefly the boss of plane maker Airbus last year, has already moved swiftly to stamp his authority on PSA, setting up a new top management structure, with the heads of both the company's programmes and operations arms reporting directly to him.
The results of the management team's deliberations and a top level strategic review will form part of a package which Mr Streiff has promised to unveil in September.
"We need the next six months to assess how the game will play out over the next three to four years," he said.
Speaking just over 24 hours into the job, Mr Streiff said yesterday that PSA needed to improve quality, cut costs, roll out new models and expand in countries such as China, Argentina and Brazil where it already has a significant presence.
He is also taking direct responsibility for the company's purchasing department which will step up the drive towards global sourcing.
PSA is already in the throes of a cost cutting programme which included the closure of its plant at Ryton, near Coventry, at the end of last year; a move which PSA said yesterday will cut its fixed cost base by €90m (£59.4m).
PSA has accepted that production will be below full capacity this year. Mr Streiff refused to rule out plant closures but said there were other ways of cutting costs.
The new chairman of the managing board is hoping that a string of new models from sports utility vehicles to new versions of the Peugeot 207 will help boost sales and increase production at the company's factories in western Europe.
Net profits fell from €1.03bn to €176m, the company announced yesterday.
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