He has been a lifelong automotive enthusiast and employee of the Chrysler brand, serving in over 20 different roles.
LONGWOOD, FL, June 15, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Marquis Who's Who, the world's premier publisher of biographical profiles, is proud to name Darrell L. Davis a Lifetime Achiever. An accomplished listee, Mr. Davis celebrates many years' experience in his professional network, and has been noted for achievements, leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes he has accrued in his field. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Mr. Davis is an accomplished automotive executive and the former corporate executive officer of Daimler Chrysler Financial Services of North America. He has been a lifelong automotive enthusiast and employee of the Chrysler brand, serving in over 20 different roles since first joining as a young service representative in 1966. Mr. Davis is also well known as a car collector. In 2008, The New York Times featured his 9,000 square foot garage that had been painstakingly transformed into a 1950s era showroom, complete with the last Plymouth ever produced and a replica of his father's filling station.
Born in Sharon, Pennsylvania, to Paul Darrell and Dorothy Jane Davis, Mr. Davis traces his lifelong love of automobiles to riding as a toddler on his grandfather's lap and steering a 1936 Chevrolet pickup truck around the family's dairy farm near West Middlesex, Pennsylvania. He sent for his permit at 16 and passed his driver's test on the first try. Mr. Davis earned a Bachelor of Science from Youngstown State University, and served the U.S. Army as a lieutenant from 1963 to 1965.
In 1966, he began his long career with Chrysler in Florida in service and sales. In 1977, he was promoted to zone manager, and starting in 1978, Mr. Davis served in multiple management roles for the company in Detroit. He served as CEO and president of the Fiat-Chrysler joint venture distributing the Alfa Romeo brand in North America from 1988 to 1991. In 1993 he became the General Manager of Europe for Chrysler.
Mr. Davis became the President and COO of Chrysler Financial Corporation in 1995, and was elected a Vice President of Chrysler Corporation and Chairman and CEO in 1997. He shepherded the company through several sweeping changes, including the merger with Daimler-Benz AG in 1998. In 2001, Mr. Davis retired from the Daimler Chrysler Corporation after nearly 36 years of service.
Mr. Davis' love for automobiles extends to die-cast model cars, model airplanes, vintage bicycles, and nearly all things mechanical. He has owned "a couple hundred cars," including many Plymouths, Porsches, Ferraris, '50s Corvettes, full-size Chevrolets, and two Depression-era Chrysler Imperials that won their class at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, where Mr. Davis has served as an honorary judge. Mr. Davis was a former drag racer and a technical inspector for the National Hot Rod Association. He is affiliated with the Beeghly College of Education at Youngstown State University, the Walter P. Chrysler Museum, the Classic Car Club of America, the Antique Auto Club of America, and the Boys and Girls Club of Southeast Michigan. Additionally, Mr. Davis has authored several articles in professional automotive journals, and 15 books on high performance Chrysler vehicles.
For his dedication to the automotive industry, Mr. Davis was selected for inclusion in numerous volumes of Who's Who in Finance and Business, Who's Who in Finance and Industry, Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the Midwest, Who's Who in the South and Southwest, Who's Who in the West, and Who's Who in the World. In addition to rescuing vintage Plymouths, he also saves orphan cats. Mr. Davis enjoys studying American history, and has two adult sons.
In recognition of outstanding contributions to his profession and the Marquis Who's Who community, Mr. Davis has been featured on the Marquis Who's Who Lifetime Achievers website. Please visit www.ltachievers.com for more information about this honor.
About Marquis Who's Who :
Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who's Who in America , Marquis Who's Who has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Today, Who's Who in America remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world. Marquis publications may be visited at the official Marquis Who's Who website at www.marquiswhoswho.com.
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