Change at the top of Fca. The worsening health condition of Sergio Marchionne have forced the CEO to bid farewell to the family car company Lambswhere he had arrived back in 2004. It was a 14-year-long marriage that saw Marchionne revive a company that was worth only EUR 4 billion, produced no profits and lost EUR 2 million a day. He started with a plan to contain costs and relaunch the group's industrial operations, Sergio Marchionne managed to triple its revenues from €47 billion in 2004 (Fiat Group S.p.A.) to €141 billion in 2017 (FCA, CNH Industrial and Ferrari), achieve a positive net result of €4.4 billion from a loss of €1.5 billion, and increase its capitalisation by more than 10 times, from €5.5 billion in 2004 of the old Fiat Group to the current €60 billion of FCA, CNH Industrial and Ferrari.
The Italo-Canadian manager's physical condition led the group's top management to convene an emergency board meeting of the companies in which Marchionne had a role, namely FCA, of which he was CEO, Ferrari, where he held the dual position of CEO and chairman, and CNH Industrial, of which he was chairman.
In its place were, therefore, appointed Mike Manley as CEO of FCA, Luis Camilleri Managing Director of Ferrari with John Elkann President, and Suzanne Heywood as President of CNH International.
Sergio Marchionne leaves FCA: the words of Chairman John Elkann
“Dear colleagues, this is without doubt the most difficult letter I have ever written. It is with deep sadness that I have to tell you that the condition of our CEO Sergio Marchionne, who recently underwent surgery, has worsened in the last few hours and will not allow him to return to Fca.
Over the past 14 years, first at Fiat, then Chrysler and finally Fca, Sergio has been the best CEO anyone could ask for and, for me, a true mentor, a colleague and a dear friend. We met during one of the darkest moments in Fiat's history and it was thanks to his intellect, perseverance and leadership that we managed to save the company.
Sergio achieved an incredible turnaround at Chrysler and, thanks to his courage in working on the cultural integration between the two companies, laid the foundations for a better and safer future for us all. We will be eternally grateful to Sergio for his achievements and for making what seemed impossible possible..
From the very first time we met, when we talked about the possibility of him taking the reins of Fiat, what really struck me about him, beyond his managerial skills and uncommon intelligence, were his human qualities. Qualities that I saw in his eyes, in his manner, in his ability to understand people. He taught us to have courage, to challenge the status quo, to break the mould and go beyond what we already knew. He always pushed us to learn, to grow and to aim high - often going beyond our own limits - and he was always the first to put himself on the line.
The legacy he leaves us speaks of what was really important to him: the pursuit of excellence, the idea that there is always the possibility of improvement. His teachings, his exhortation to never accept anything passively, to never be satisfied with mere sufficiency, are now an integral part of our culture at Fca: a culture that pushes us to always raise the bar and never settle for mediocrity. Sergio's definition of the word leader is more valid today than ever. What really matters is the kind of culture a leader leaves to those who come after him. The best way to judge him is through what the organisation does after him."
