Post by Webster on Jul 24, 2018 4:14:39 GMT
(The Guardian) Italian-US carmaker Fiat Chrysler is facing a very uncertain future today following the shock resignation of long-serving CEO Sergio Marchionne over the weekend.
It’s a sad tale - Marchionne had run Fiat for over a decade, masterminding the rescue of America’s Chrysler after the financial crisis. Its share price surged on Marchionne’s watch, as he rebuilt Chrysler and also successfully spun off Ferrari, Fiat’s ultra-luxurious brand.
But his stint has ended too soon; complications following shoulder surgery forced Marchionne to step aside over the weekend.
Fiat Chryster’s board have moved quickly, promoting Michael Manley, the head of the group’s Jeep brand, as their new CEO. Manley, aged 54, was born in London and trained as an engineer.
Jeep is one of Fiat’s success stories of the last decade. But Fiat shares have fallen 3.3% today, as investors fret about how the company will cope without Marchionne’s experience, wisdom, and work ethic.
Bloomberg’s Tommaso Ebhardt has written a touching account of his time trying (and usually failing) to get an interview with Marchionne.
Here’s a flavour: It was not easy for Marchionne’s aides and for everyone at the the Italian-American company. He demanded full dedication and had a constant sense of urgency. That cost him some talented executives. Marchionne could also be brutal, which hurt his relationships with CEOs in the industry and with political leaders.
“I don’t have time for BS,” he used to tell me. The son of a policeman, who moved with his family from Italy to a suburb of Toronto at the age of 14, he joined Fiat in 2004 with no experience in the car industry.
Marchionne had planned to retire next year, Ebhardy adds: At the dinner in Michigan, the night before his last Detroit auto show, he acknowledged the time was coming to spend more time with his partner. “This business, if you want to do it at least the way I think it should be done, it is all -consuming,” he said, describing 14- and 16-hour days doing everything from approving Super Bowl commercials to deciding on electric cars. “Now I am tired, I want to do something else.”
-Read more: www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-22/marchionne-and-me-a-reporter-recalls-his-decade-with-fiat-s-boss