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Automotive legend Sergio Marchionne, the charismatic leader who spun Fiat and Chrysler before reuniting businesses as a profitable venture, died Wednesday. He was 66 years old.
"Unfortunately, what we feared happened: Sergio Marchionne, a man and a friend, is gone," said John Elkann, a member of Fiat's founding family, Agnelli,
Fiat Chrysler (FCA) announced the abrupt resignation of Marchionne as CEO on Saturday. while he was recovering from the surgery. Marchionne was also the managing director of Ferrari, and FCA and Ferrari announced successors who took immediate control of the companies.
For a long career, Marchionne has left an indelible mark on the industry. He was the CEO of Fiat when he bought Chrysler out of bankruptcy in 2009 following a US government bailout. The companies merged about four years ago.
He was known for his witty comments, his intrepid decision, his black jerseys and his dislike for ties.
At a conference in 2013, Fiat and Chrysler models, he told the press: "I have all my production start dates tattooed in private parts, and I can tell you that It becomes crowded. "
Related: What's Next for Fiat Chrysler?
He was known for juggling "four, five, six phones and was living on a plane," says Rebecca Lindland, executive badyst at Kelley Blue Book. "I would never bet against Marchionne," she added
Born in Chieti, Italy, on June 17, 1952, Marchionne entered the automotive industry as an outsider when he left SGS SA, An inspection firm Fiat car manufacturer in 2004. He succeeded Umberto Agnelli, whose family founded Fiat in 1899.
In Marchionne's debut at Fiat, he suppressed middle management jobs and cut wages to help the losses. About two years after Marchionne took over, Fiat made its first profit in five years.
"We spit blood to clean up and restart Fiat," he said, quoted by British media about the turnaround
The man who saved Chrysler unveils the plan for when he left [19659002] As the global auto industry was shaken by the financial crisis in the late 2000s, there was a serious doubt that the American Chrysler icon would survive. The firm was bankrupted by the Obama administration after the authorities initially considered dropping the company.
In 2009, Fiat reached an agreement with Chrysler that made Fiat the largest shareholder in the American company.
Under his leadership, the company eventually became a debt-free and profitable global automaker
Marchionne defended the US government's involvement in keeping Chrysler afloat. He told CNN's Poppy Harlow in an interview in 2011 that anyone who thought Chrysler could have survived without this help "smoked illegal material".
He was also known to be open about the failures of his businesses. After the failure of the Dodge Caliber in the United States, Marchionne in 2012 criticized the design and qualified the vehicle as "abomination".
In 2014, he urged customers not to buy the Fiat 500e. "I hope you do not buy it because every time I sell one, it costs me $ 14,000," he said at a conference in New York. Washington,
Marchionne pushed to merge Chrysler with Fiat. In 1965, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles was listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
In 2017, FCA sold 2 million vehicles in the United States, more than double its sales. in the dark days of 2009. Overall, FCA sold 4.7 million cars last year
Related: Diving Fiat sales leaves its American future in doubt
Last month, Marchionne was wearing a tie for the first time in years at Fiat Event Chrysler in Italy. He talked about the strong financial performance of the company
. But the FCA still has some problems. The company is a mere third of sales in the United States and 8th in the world. The company has also dragged its competitors by adopting electric vehicle and self-driving technology, which many believe the inevitable future of the industry.
In addition to FCA, Marchionne served as President of the CNH Company and CEO of Ferrari, who detached from FCA years ago.
In recent years, Marchionne had spoken openly about his desire to find a merging partner for Fiat Chrysler. He had been far more brutal than other leaders in the auto industry about the threat that new entrants such as Google accounted for for older car manufacturers.
After the inauguration of President Donald Trump last year, he stood out The FCA would have invested in the US manufacturing industry, whether Trump publicly solicited these investments or not.
"I wish I could give [Trump] credit for that. But in 2015, during talks with the United Auto Workers Union, he was the first among his peers to declare himself against the two-tier wage system of the industry as unsustainable. It has allowed automakers to pay new, lower wages in the name of saving money as a result of the financial meltdown.
"There can be two clbades for people doing the same job" auto show in January, according to reports.
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