WSJ names Stoll global auto editor

Wall Street Journal business editor Dennis Berman sent out the following announcement on Friday:

I’m delighted to announce the return of John Stoll to his native land – the auto beat.

Effective July 7, John will be our Global Auto Editor, responsible for leading auto coverage in Detroit and around the world.

John has served the last two years as bureau chief for the Nordics and Baltics, where his reporters flourished, coaxing stories out of Angry Birds, taciturn Nokians and Latvian politicians alike.

John started his career at Automotive News and then moved to AutoWeek magazine. His father is a car salesman and legend has it his great-grandfather sold a Packard to Al Capone.

John spent five years with Dow Jones in Detroit, where he was a leading player covering the collapse of the U.S. auto industry. He was the first to report on the Fiat/Chrysler partnership, the collapse of GMAC, and Kirk Kerkorian’s offer to buy Chrysler back in 2005.

John subsequently became manager of corporate and financial communications at Ford and then moved to Reuters as U.S. Editor-in-Charge of Manufacturing.

He and his growing family are moving back to Detroit this summer.

As part of the change, Joe White is named Senior Editor, a role that will make use of his immense talents as a writer and reporter on the global auto scene. Joe’s experience, judgment and sourcing have made him the pre-eminent automotive journalist, and he will be writing leders, columns, and projects that reflect his mastery of the topic.

Joe and his team in Detroit have worked tirelessly on the GM recall story, and we expect them to continue as the saga takes new dimensions in the months ahead.

Please join me in congratulating John and Joe on their new appointments.