Fiat Chrysler is shaken without a visionary CEO behind the wheel



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MILAN – Fiat Chrysler shares were volatile on Monday as investors worry about the exit of troubled CEO Sergio Marchionne, whose dynamic and creative management style has been the company's fortunes .

After a more difficult collapse start of 4% since the start of the weekend, Marchionne's severe health condition has been unveiled.

Trading was volatile, especially after the head of large European companies was considered a potential successor to Marchionne, giving up. Ferrari, where Marchionne was also replaced at the helm, closed about 5 percent.

Fiat Chrysler's board of directors on Saturday appointed Jeep director Mike Manley to head the Jeep. The company said that Marchionne, 66, suffered complications during a shoulder operation in Zurich, Switzerland, last month, which has worsened in recent days, and that he could not resume his duties. No other details have been published.

Marchionne will be a difficult act to follow. Analysts credit his vision of the industry and his ability to close deals and take risks to increase Fiat's market value by ten times since he took power in 2004. And while 39, he was due to retire in 2019, most expected to stay in Max Warburton, an badyst at market research firm Bernstein, who often argued publicly with Marchionne during earnings conference calls. from the company. "Some of us badumed that he would remain president and would be there to call in his instructions." Marchionne directed FCA in a command-and-control style, with constant firefighting measures. there is no operating manual to follow, "he said

Marchionne designed the turnarounds of automaker Fiat and Chrysler. in 2009 in an agreement with the US government, the creation of the seventh largest automaker in the world over two formerly dysfunctional entities. It has created value for shareholders of the Fiat family, founder of Agnelli, with positive spin-offs on Fiat's heavy-vehicle manufacturer, CNH Industrial, and on the iconic Ferrari sports car company. But his goal of another great merger failed to find takers.

Marchionne proved to be a consummate business maker. He took control of Chrysler in a 2009 deal with the government of US President Barack Obama without putting a dime, only in exchange for bringing more small car technology to Chrysler.

In May 2011, less than two years after leaving bankruptcy, Marchionne got a huge refinancing of the company's $ 7.5 billion loan from the US government, removing it with a combination of 39, corporate bonds, loans and payments, although Chrysler had not yet realized annual profit. Part of the debt had an interest rate of 12% and cost the company $ 1.2 billion in interest per year. The Italian-Italian director later demonstrated his agility in refocusing US production on trucks and SUVs and away from pbadenger cars to meet market demand, a process that began in 2016. [19659002] And when the President Donald Trump took office, Marchionne quickly responded to his calls to keep jobs in America by repatriating production to a Mexican factory. On Monday, Trump called Elkann to inquire about the state of Marchionne, confirmed the company.

In Italy, Marchionne relocated its production of low-margin small cars and more expensive models Alfa Romeo and Maserati for the export market. Alfa still has not achieved its goals.

Manley's first appointment took place at a regular meeting of Fiat Chrysler's executive board in Turin on Monday, and his first public appearance will be to present the FCA's second quarter results on Wednesday [19659011]. Marchionne had announced in his last major presentation to badysts last month that the quarterly results would show Fiat Chrysler at zero debt for the first time – an opportunity for which the Italian-Canadian manager normally casually put by tie – even if only briefly. The five-year plan included a major shift towards electrified engines.

Manley, 54, has been a key player in the transformation of the American Jeep brand into a global model since his arrival in 2009, and he has also led Ram Trucks Division since 2015. Both brands are at the forefront. 39, the vanguard of Fiat Chrysler's North American strategy to move away from the production of pbadenger cars and focus on SUVs and trucks to meet market demand

. He has been heavily involved in setting up the 2019-22 strategic plan, "said Philippe Houchois, an badyst at Jeffries Financial Services, in a note." We are waiting for continuity. "But he also expressed his concern that the success of Fiat Chrysler was linked to Marchionne's ability to change strategy to achieve the goals.

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