22h17 – Change of driver at Fiat and Ferrari with the hurried departure of Marchionne

Seriously ill, the Italian automotive industry tenor Sergio Marchionne gives way to Fiat Chrysler (FCA) and Ferrari, who on Saturday named Jeep bosses Mike Manley and Philip Morris Louis Carey, respectively Camilleri, to succeed him

M. Marchionne was also president of CNH Industrial and will be replaced by the British Suzanne Wood, announced the latter of the three groups controlled by the Agnelli family.

In a statement, FCA announces "with deep sorrow that during the week, Mr. Marchionne suffered unexpected complications as he was recovering from an operation that seriously worsened in recent hours, so Mr. Marchionne will not be able to return to work. "

The directors of the three groups met in emergency Saturday afternoon to evoke this anticipated succession.

Aged 66, Mr. Marchionne had undergone surgery in June, officially on the right shoulder. His last public appearance dates back to June 27, when the son of a rifleman from Abruzzo handed a jeep to the riflemen of Rome.

The Italo-Canadian manager with the eternal black sweatshirts or polos, who had taken the helm of Fiat in 2004, planned to take the reins of FCA in the course of 2019.

In 14 years, he has profoundly remodeled the group, first by straightening Fiat, by combining it in 2009 with the American Chrysler, while detaching on the one hand the heavy machinery / trucks activities in 2011 to create CNH Industrial and on the other hand the jewel Ferrari in January 2016.

John Elkann, grandson of Gianni Agnelli and CEO of Exor, the family holding company which holds nearly 30% of Fiat, 27% of CNH Industrial and 23% of Ferrari, said to himself "deeply sad"

"This is a situation that was unthinkable a few hours ago and leaves us all with a real sense of injustice My thoughts go first to Sergio and his family" , he said in a statement from FCA.

– Jeep in the heart of the strategy –

So it's Mike Manley, discreet Brit Anniversary of 54 CEOs of Jeep and Ram (pick-up and vans), who will be responsible for taking over.

He arrived at the head of Jeep in 2009, in a storm in the US auto industry. Under his leadership, the automaker went from 337,000 vehicles sold in 2008 to nearly 1.4 million in 2017, and targets 1.9 million this year.

According to Morgan Stanley, Jeep is expected to represent by itself 70% of the profits of FCA this year.

And it is at the top of the brands "Premium" – with Alfa Romeo or Maserati – which are at the heart of the strategic plan 2018-2022 presented by M. Marchionne early June , along with the development of hybrid and electric cars.

"Since FCA has been looking for a successor for some time, and the successor has been involved in the development of the recently announced five-year plan, the transition could still be smooth. AFI expert Stephanie Brinley, an automotive expert at IHS Markit, said:

This transition could also be facilitated by the tone of FCA, which recorded new record results in 2017 and brought the end of June to zero. a net industrial debt – against 7.7 billion euros at the end of 2014.

On the Ferrari side, too, the financial results are more than satisfactory: the famous brand with the prancing horse, which voluntarily limits its production to maintain its exclusive character , achieved a turnover of 3.417 billion euros (+ 10%) and a net profit of 537 million euros (+ 34%) in 2017.

The functions of Mr. Marchionne at Ferrari will now to be split: John Elkann becomes president, while Louis Camilleri is appointed managing director.

Born in 1955 in a Maltese family in Alexandria (Egypt), Mr. Camilleri joined Philip Morris in 1978, and since 2002 he has been CEO of this group closely linked to Ferrari via the Scuderia sponsorship

Since last year, he has been on the tabloids as a result of his affiliation with supermodel Naomi Campbell