Marchionne's Farewell and the Future of FCA



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This week's news has taken many people by surprise. The death of Sergio Marchionne, former CEO of FCA, shocked us all, even those who did not agree with their work. A complication of a shoulder operation led him to resign from the position he had held since 2009, when Fiat acquired Chrysler, putting Mike Manley in its place. The future is now even more uncertain in the company and not precisely because of the lack of capacity of the new CEO.

Marchionne jumped into the auto industry in 2004, when he assumed the job of Fiat CEO and managed to give him the return dramatically, with new products and a bold and intelligent administration. Believing firmly that only large corporations would survive in the future, he managed to seize Chrysler when the 2009 crisis forced him to move to chapter 11 of the US bankruptcy code. He paid off the debt to Barack Obama's government and then acquired over 60% of the company's stock, forming FCA.

This 66-year-old Italo-Canadian Italian turned a $ 2-billion business into a $ 72-billion business. Chrysler 's share of the market increased from $ 9 to 19 today

. and do business. Of course, for that, he contributed a lot to his origins to be born in Italy, having been educated in Canada and living in New York. But most of all, it 's the fruit of his immense talent for understanding people and their needs, which allowed him to negotiate so well that he almost always triumphed, even though he' s not the only one. on the other hand there were difficult negotiators like the American and Canadian unions. 19659003] Uncertainty

But all was not flat and quiet at the time of Sergio Marchionne at the head of the FCA. In keeping with his ideas, he tirelessly sought an alliance that would place the group in a stronger position than the sixth world position it occupies today. But this is not successful unless the latest rumors of an alliance with Hyundai are confirmed.

Another negative detail: the abandonment of several brands of the group like Lancia, Fiat and Chrysler, the last two, curiously, give their name to the Dodge group, another brand with a great tradition, mainly in North America , is not at its best either. Marchionne focused all his weapons on Ram, which was his strong card in the US market, and Jeep, the group's most successful and global brand.

Just out of the jeep comes Mike Manley, a 54-year-old Englishman, known for his typically British sarcasm. Manley, who has also supported Ram since 2015, has increased Jeep sales by just over 450 thousand units a year when he took his job in 2009 to 1.4 million in 2017. In the plan Five years ago, presented by Marchionne A little over a month ago, the simple task entrusted to Manley was to double Jeep sales by 2022.

But today, he has a much more complicated task in front of him, leading FCA to the future and dealing with the Italians. The Americans, both not exactly in love with the sarcasm of the natives of the United Kingdom.

The changes, whether programmed or not, are always a threat but also an opportunity, Mike Manley may have achieved something that in the best case would come to 2019, when in theory Marchionne would leave his post. But he could also have drawn the tiger's raffle and faced a situation that he may not be able to handle, as unlikely as it may seem. The fact is that if the future of FCA was uncertain a few days ago for the aforementioned alliance (or sales) rumors with Hyundai, the uncertainty is now even greater.

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