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"It stinks of death here." When he arrives at Fiat's headquarters in Turin, fourteen years ago, Sergio Marchionne discovers a moribund builder and factories "worse than Dickens' novels". Far, far away from the skyscrapers of Toronto, where he emigrated as a family to adolescence, or the quietness of Geneva, where the multi-graduate in law, commerce, economics and philosophy managed the giant SGS certification for the account of the Agnelli clan
Spotted by the billionaire family, Sergio Marchionne is called to the rescue at Fiat on the death of Umberto Agnelli. Suffocated by a debt of 14 billion euros, the Fabbrica had suffered an annual loss of 1.6 billion. Moribond, it was said …
Two tricks of magic
Illustre unknown in the Italian employers, the Cofindustria even begins to nickname the "Martian", the man in the black pullover is quickly a name. Chaining cigarette cigarettes, espresso espresso, the new boss quickly revives the manufacturer by renegotiating the group's debt and shaking the manners of the other old lady of Turin. "I continuously evaluate my employees. I give them notes and I say to them: pay attention, to the one who sits, I take him back the chair ", he will say later. Luca de Montezemolo, the historical boss of Ferrari arrived unceremoniously in 2014, knows it all too well.
The first real trick of Sergio Marchionne? Get $ 2 billion from General Motors to abandon the Fiat takeover by the Detroit giant in 2005. His second sleight of hand? In the following years, to come back to social conditions in the Italian factories of a financially restored group. Without provoking a revolution. "He is a good bourgeois, we need them like him", will even judge one day Fausto Bertinnotti, a figure of the Italian left
Creating value
The closing of the Sicilian plant of Termini, in 2010, however, remains in the throes of many gorges, as well as its desire to condition investments in Italy to company agreements. "It's not up to Fiat to solve Italy's problems," he defends himself. But the highlight of the Marchionne show will remain the recovery of Chrysler, starting in 2009, for zero dollars. Fiat then becomes an Italian-American group, listed on Wall Street and Milan since 2014, driven between Detroit and Turin, through the Amsterdam and London headquarters.
The Rifleman's son (a father who did not want to not seeing him finish "ice cream seller") has always pampered his shareholders. After the Chrysler holp-up, the CNH trucks and tractors division went public in 2011, like Ferrari in 2015. Today, Fiat, Ferrari and CNH together earn more than 60 billion euros, ten times more than the Fiat in 2004. "I'm not the Good Samaritan, I'm here to create value," admits Sergio Marchionne, who earns high salaries in the three groups, while the Agnelli now recover three dividends for the price of one. . "He's a mentor, and a real friend," John Elkann, the representative of the Italian family, wrote on Saturday. He taught us to think differently and to have the courage to change, sometimes unconventionally. "
Run as fast as possible
In recent years, the native of Abruzzo has spent to clean the balance sheet of Fiat -Chrysler, to facilitate a sale or a wedding. The thrilling boss explained the reasons a few years ago, in his "confessions of a capital junkie": the car is a trade with a margin less than 10% where you have to invest its weight in the stock market every four years. It's like "Alice in Wonderland," he says. "Here you have to run as fast as you can to stay in one place. If you want to go elsewhere, you have to run twice as fast! "
Not to back down, the group focused under the leadership of Sergio Marchionne on its most profitable trades – the pickups and SUVs of Jeep and RAM, the premium and the American market. Too bad for Fiat, Europe or Italy. Investments have been reduced to what is strictly necessary. As a result, "FCA" has been out of debt since June, but its technology is out of breath and the manufacturer has still not found welcoming arms. The leader has multiplied the glances at General Motors, Ford or PSA, in vain. Still, thanks to his Martian, Fiat can now say like Mark Twain, another buried too quickly: "The rumor of my death was greatly exaggerated."
Julien Dupont-Calbot
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