Fiat Chrysler Automobiles on Wednesday has named Daphne Zheng as chief operating officer for its China business and Paul Alcala as the operating chief of Asia Pacific, excluding China.
Zheng, who has been with the Italian carmaker for more than eight years, was the managing director of the company's sales joint venture in China with Guangzhou Automotive Group (GAC).
Alcala, a 29-year Fiat veteran, was most recently led the development of manufacturing and sales joint ventures in China with GAC.
The changes are effective immediately, Fiat told Reuters.
Mike Manley, the outgoing COO for the Asia-Pacific region, will continue to serve as the group executive council and as the head of the Jeep and Ram brands globally, the company said.
"These leadership appointments in the APAC region will ensure [Manley] can now focus his efforts on our growth plans for both the Jeep and Ram brands in the U.S. but more importantly in international markets," Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said in a statement.
Manley assured investors last week that the Jeep brand was on track to meet a previously announced 2018 worldwide sales target of 1.9 million vehicles.
Fiat Chrysler's reshuffling comes amidst allegations that the automaker is cheating on its emissions tests including the use of hidden software to facilitate the fraud.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said on Thursday that it discovered programs in 104,000 Jeep Grand Cherokees and Ram 1500s that enabled it to exceed pollution limits on the road.
The EPA did not describe the software as "defeat devices" like those featured in the VW emissions recall scandal in 2015.
In an e-mailed statement to Bloomberg, Fiat said that has been cooperating with the ongoing investigation vy the EPA and the U.S. Department.
Fiat "intends to work with the incoming administration to present its case and resolve this matter fairly and equitably," the company said.