Marchionne steps down as CEO of FCA, Jeep boss Manley to replace him

Sergio Marchionne, longtime CEO and chief for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, stepped down Saturday due to serious complications after surgery, the company announced. Mike Manley, head of Jeep and Ram brands, replaced him.

John Elkann, grandson of Gianni Agnelli and chairman of the company that controls FCA, said his family was shocked by Marchionne's failing health.

"I am profoundly saddened to learn of Sergio’s state of health. It is a situation that was unthinkable until a few hours ago, and one that leaves us all with a real sense of injustice," Elkann said in a statement.

Elkann will fill Marchionne's chairman role at Ferrari while the Italian firm is expected to name Louis C. Camilleri as the replacement for Machionne's CEO role.

Marchionne, who is 66 years old, recently underwent surgery on his right shoulder and was expected to miss the company's second-quarter sales call due to the procedure. It's unclear if his sudden departure is related to the surgery or complications after the surgery. The Wall Street Journal report Satuday that Marchionne had been absent from day-to-day activities at FCA for weeks.

Marchionne was expected to step down from his role as CEO next year, although it was unclear who would lead the company after his exit.

Manley joined the automaker in 2000 and has led Jeep for nearly a decade. His roles have included head of sales in Asia, head of Ram brand, and chief operating officer for North America.

Marchionne helped navigate FCA through bankruptcy during his 14-year tenure and turn the company's finances back from the brink of collapse. As CEO, Marchionne has led FCA through multiple plans for profitability, which the automaker has largely delivered on, and spun off Ferrari as a successful standalone business unit. Marchionne also served as CEO for Ferrari.

Last month, FCA paid off its net industrial debt, which was part of a larger plan to spend billions on new cars and technologies by 2022.

Marchionne's tenure also has been controversial at times. He openly courted partners such as General Motors and other automakers, and said consolidation was the only way that the auto industry could survive. His efforts to revive Alfa Romeo and Maserati as luxury brands in the U.S. have largely stalled, and the plainspoken CEO has also questioned whether electrification and self-driving cars could be profitable.

All cars are much better than they used to be. Even Jaguars. The quality problems with all FCA brands are well-documented and regularly reported on in the automotive press.

I think it’s great that the worst brands these days aren’t that bad compared to 40 years ago. But autos are a very competitive business. The worst is still the worst. The quality chief job at FCA is a revolving door.

His plan involved shedding the debt before he retired, which he had planned to do in 2019:

FCA says it will be debt-free by midyear
January 29, 2018 @ 12:01 am
Larry P. Vellequette
[snip] Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is on track to be debt-free by midyear and will hit aggressive financial targets that could allow it to “outperform Ford in 2018,” FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne said last week... The company’s key metric, its North American profit margin, rose half a percentage point to 7.9 percent, despite falling deliveries in the quarter from fleet production. The North American profit will mean $5,500 profit-sharing checks on average for UAW members, up from $5,000 a year earlier, FCA said. That will be on top of a $2,000 bonus paid to all U.S. workers, except top executives, related to U.S. corporate tax cuts [MAGA!}. Changes in U.S. tax law are projected to save the company $1 billion a year... [Marchionne:] “We were the only leveraged automaker in the world. We’re no longer leveraged. We’re now fighting with equal arms.” [/snip]
http://www.autonews.com/article/20180129/OEM/180129781/fca-says-it-will-be-debt-free-by-midyear

Corruption of union execs are one reason auto jobs by the Big Three vanished:

Feds: UAW, FCA execs were in cahoots in multimillion-dollar scam that funded trips, cars
Brent Snavely,Tresa Baldas and Eric D. Lawrence, Detroit Free Press Published 2:01 p.m. ET July 26, 2017 | Updated 10:43 p.m. ET July 26, 2017
https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/2017/07/26/uaw-vp-fiat-chrysler-executive-indicted/513202001/

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