Features
23 Jul 18

Poorly FCA CEO Marchionne replaced by Michael Manly

The iconic FCA boss Sergio Marchionne is suffering from complications after surgery on his right shoulder. Last Saturday, FCA’s PR department stated his health does not allow him to resume his tasks. In the meantime, the reins of the company have been handed over to Michael Manly (pictured on the left below), a 54-year-old Brit who has been heading Jeep until now.

As for Ferrari, it has been decided that John Elkann, one of Gianni Agnelli’s grandsons, will become president of the board. Louis Cary Camilleri has been appointed CEO of the racing car brand. The other branch that was headed by Marchionne, CNH Industrial (Iveco, Magirus, Case, Heuliez, New Holland), falls under supervision of Suzanne Heywood.

Just before the finish line

The 66-year-old Sergio Marchionne intended to stay CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles until next year. He sailed the company out of a life-threatening storm a decade ago into waters of prosperity.

The Italian-Canadian visionary increased Fiat’s assets more than ten-fold since he took the helm in 2004. By recognizing the potential of the Jeep brand, spinning off the luxury Ferrari marque, and pivoting early away from low-margin cars toward more profitable SUVs, he was able to revive Fiat Chrysler, and cut net debt to zero, Bloomberg reports.

Marchionne had just outlined new financial targets in June, which are perceived to be very ambitious. He has always been in favour of a merger with another major OEM. None of the talks he engaged in ever resulted in concrete intentions.

Picture copyright: FCA, 2018

Authored by: Dieter Quartier