Tuesday 3rd May 2016

Ferrari CEO steps down

Marchionne machinations see CEO Amedeo Felisa move aside

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At risk of waking up in a tank with a laser-fitted shark, we have to say that there's always been something of the Bond villain about Sergio Marchionne. The Italian-Canadian has only worked in the car industry for just over a decade, but has become one of its most powerful executives as boss of Fiat-Chrysler, and is now set to add CEO of Ferrari to his list of job titles.

Marchionne has always done things differently. He rarely wears suit or tie, preferring a baggier version of the sort of expensive knitwear Steve Jobs used to sport. Marchionne often adds a scarf to his ensemble as well, whatever the weather. His mannerisms and quietly spoken demeanour also have much of the natural authority of one who lives in a hollowed-out volcano, and he does an excellent line in prognostication about the future of the motor industry that has made him a favourite of quote-hungry journos.

Marchionne marches on

Bagging the top job at Ferrari is hardly a surprise. Marchionne has been chairman since 2014 when Luca di Montezemolo stepped down, reportedly after various clashes between the two men given Ferrari's then-role as an FCA subsidiary. Marchionne will be carrying on as CEO of Fiat-Chrysler as well, so pity whoever is in charge of organising his diary.

Marchionne's promotion means the departure of Ferrari's current CEO, Amedeo Felisa, who is apparently retiring. And who should also be given much of the credit for the brand's record-breaking performance in recent years, and the general excellence of its products. He will be carrying on as a technical adviser, and we imagine his farewell gift will be more than a gold carriage clock.

Marchionne has previously talked of plans to boost Ferrari production to around 10,000 cars a year, although more recently he scaled back his short term aspirations to stay around the 7,000 a year the company currently makes. Now he's fully in charge at Maranello it will be very interesting to see what happens next.

 

[Martin 480 Turbo]

and he does not know A THING about cars. Amazing career.

[Theophany]

Martin 480 Turbo said:

and he does not know A THING about cars. Amazing career.

Not necessarily of importance. If he runs the business well and recognises the people who do know about cars and gives them the right amount of autonomy, it's all good.

[octane83]

Car making like most industries is a people business more than anything else.

When I joined the automotive industry as a youth I had grandiose visions of engineering my way through my career. A decade or so later I'm yet to see a blue-blooded engineer make his/her way to the top. Most industry bosses have got to where they are purely on the back of their excellent people management, risk management, eye for detail and above all a keen sense for 'out of the box' thinking. Domain knowledge doesn't come into it. That's my view anyway.

[Leithen]

Whilst Marchionne would appear to be an operator who might have given the Medici's a run for their money, is he any good at running car manufacturers?

[patch5674]

Ferrari SUV is coming. There was a lot of worrying soundbites around the time of the stock floatation on the NYSE regarding 'expanding production' 'looking at new markets' 'untapped revenue' etc etc. Now those combined with the sweeping aside Di Montezemolo first and now this.

The cars will still be fantastic no doubt, but I suspect there is going to be a lot more of them, and unless they flood the place with 488's I can't see where the volume boost is going to come from without a new model.

[BVB]

Ferrari cars are the efforts of a whole lot of talented and passionate individuals. Management changes mean little.

[Hol]

I just read his BIO on Wikipedia and I like the guy without even meeting him.


He moved his own office from the top 'penthouse' floor to the same floor as the engineering teams and prefers to talk problems through with the staff themselves, rather than via senior management.

[dvs_dave]

If exclusive car companies weren't always trying to expand massively and sell more and more during boom years, then they would have much less trouble come the inevitable bust cycle.

Why can't they just be happy where they are and refining their products further? Why divert those resources into conjuring up a brand devaluing SUV cash cow, or whatever?

Ferrari are hugely profitable as it is. They don't need a cash cow to stay alive.

[leef44]

dvs_dave said:

If exclusive car companies weren't always trying to expand massively and sell more and more during boom years, then they would have much less trouble come the inevitable bust cycle.

Why can't they just be happy where they are and refining their products further? Why divert those resources into conjuring up a brand devaluing SUV cash cow, or whatever?

Ferrari are hugely profitable as it is. They don't need a cash cow to stay alive.

They would love to do that but it's not their choice sadly. They have to keep the shareholders happy who only care about the share price at the end of the day i.e. "what's the next big thing you're going to do to make more money"

[C7 JFW]

Theophany said:

Not necessarily of importance. If he runs the business well and recognises the people who do know about cars and gives them the right amount of autonomy, it's all good.

Correct, that's the bit which counts above all else in that position.

[Pereldh]

He has almost killed off Lancia and slowly strangling Fiat too. In the real world that IS always bad, boosting the brand image is wise thing in the long term. See VW handling Skoda or Seat, whatever we may think of VW pretending Skoda is something other than a VW platform. The Skoda brand is strong.

The Fiat brand is just getting weaker every month. Remember Fiat were making 220hp folk-supercars TWENTY years ago.. Now considered modern classics. Today we get 500, Panda, Mazda-deratives, and rebadged Dodge's.

Because Marcho does not care enough.

[anonymous-user]

I want to know what he got as a leaving present. Was it a Ferrari branded baseball cap or a prancing horse paperweight?

[Ali_T]

Wouldn't worry too much. Marchionne is retiring in 18-24 months anyway. He's only contracted to 2018. I guess he fancied adding another string to his bow but more talented people will be behind the scenes.