Illness ends the career of Fiat Marchionne's boss

AT: 06:36 | Reading time: 3 minutes

F iat has a new boss. The reason: Sergio Marchionne, the director who saved the Italian automaker from bankruptcy and internationalized, must make the company's direction for health reasons surprising. In fact, the 66 year old man should stay in his position until 2019. It is the end of an era for the company.

However, over the weekend, the company's management said that Marchionne could not return to work because of unexpected complications of shoulder surgery. His successor named the company's supervisory board, Mike Manley (54). Manley is a long-time manager of the company and since 2009, he is head of the Jeep brand.

It's a drama that nobody expected. Marchionne had undergone a right shoulder surgery in Switzerland on June 28th. "I'll be gone for a few days, there is no need to change all the appointments," he told his team earlier, according to Italian newspapers. However, there were complications during the procedure.

Initially, doctors always managed the problems. But Marchionne's health deteriorated rapidly last week. Already there were rumors that the Supervisory Board is looking for a successor to the director. On Friday, John Elkann, president of Fiat and member of the Agnelli family, went to Zurich to see Marchionne. During the visit, he had "understood that Sergio would not come back to work," writes Elkann in a statement released Saturday. He wrote his friendship with Marchionne. He was deeply saddened by his health. "It's a situation that would have been unthinkable until a few hours ago, leaving us all with a sense of unfairness." It reads like an obituary.

The British Manley, who will now take over the management of the corporation, has been working in the automotive industry since the age of 22. In 2000, he joined Daimler Chrylser, in 2009, he was appointed head of the Jeep brand. Three years ago, he also took over the Ram brand, which specializes in the production of vans and vans. Today, both brands are also thanks to Manley's leadership at the most successful Fiat Chrysler.

In addition to his role as Fiat Chrysler, Marchionne was also President and CEO of the Ferrari subsidiary for four years. Functions that he should continue to exercise even after his departure as CEO in 2019. But these tasks were now transferred to new managers, as Ferrari announced on Saturday: The Supervisory Board appointed John Elkann president of Ferrari and Louis C. Camilleri as new CEO.

Marchionne stays with Fiat, the great hero. In 2004, he took the post of general manager of the Italian car manufacturer Luca di Montezemolo. At the time, the Italian automaker was about to go bankrupt. Marchionne but started with the renovation. In 2009, he led Fiat with the American competitor Chrysler.

At Daimler, the merger with Chrysler took place a few years earlier, marriage in paradise. The marriage then became hell, which followed the separation after a few years. Between Fiat and Chrysler, living together seems to work. Since the merger, the value of the stock has increased by almost 350% – and therefore more than any other company in the industry.

More recently, Marchionne announced the release of the Fiat Group's debt at the end of June this year. Its recently announced strategy for the next five years, in addition to the development of electric and hybrid cars, focuses on the Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Ram and especially Jeep brands. At the time of Marchionne at Fiat Chrysler, however, allegations also fall in Germany and the United States, according to which the automaker also should have cheated in measuring emissions. The group has always rejected that.