Maserati revolving door of CEO's continues

Your statement is a bit misleading, Ronchi, Kabfell and Leach all held the same position at Maserati SpA. Selwa and Eulberg positions were at Maserati NA.

 

+1 this is true. yes it seems like there is a revolving door, but not as bad as it looks on paper. Actually met Marti and she seems VERY intent on doing the right things!

 

Interesting since Maserati is enjoying the best two years since...??

 

thread is a bit misleading

 

I spoke to both Kalbfell (who is now involved with a sportscar called Artega) and Ronchi at the Geneva show in March about the much needed Heritage department at Maserati.

I am not in any way quoting Kalbfell here and Ronchi answered to me we are thiniking about it...

The real problem since the Fiat purchase of Maserati in the early 1990's has always been the cynical Fiat career politician bureaucrats, sistematos as they are called in Italy, who give jobs to their retarted cousins, could not care less about Maserati and are just biding their time there waiting for some big director job at Fiat or Ferrari. These people could not care less about Maserati history and that is wrong: I say put them at some tractor plant.

In the meantime after this umpteenth change of CEO perhaps I should sell this business card on Ebay....any takers:-(?...the question is who will be the next CEO to hold the purse strings and have a vision LONG TERM....?

Bedst regards,

Marc
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It is also worth to note, that the good quality of the cars from Maserati -and in particular the Gran Turismo- is the archievment of the Kalbfell area! He tought them how to build quality!
We`ll see in the future what the Roncchi-period brings up....!

Ciao!
Walter

 

Like any company Maserati's focus must be on selling its current products and making a profit (Really the only focus, considering that they hadn't turned a profit in 17 years under Fiat ownership, even longer when you count the DeTomaso years).

As regards to its Heritage it is a reference point that adds to the brand's mystique, to be used as a selling tool for its current products. Bring it out when needed to show the bloodline, honor it occasionally, use it to make the potential new owner feel they are buying something special compared to its competition.

That is the way it should be and has to be. Bottom line, they are in the business to sell cars.

That being said, I don't know what the position is from their European counteraparts but I've been told by a number of people in senior management positions in the US. That they don't feel that owners of older Maseratis are potenial buyers for new Maseratis. If that is true or not is open to debate, but that is their position and may reflect on your impression that they don't care about their Heritage.



Joe

 

Joe, you may right.
The Italians are not very good in marketing (despite the Italian fashion industry, which is very good on this point!). They don`t realise that Heritage can be a perfect marketing tool. Last year it was the 50th Anniversary of the Maserati F1-Worldchampionship AND (!!!) the launch of the new model, the Gran Turismo! What happened?? ...NOTHING!!!

Does anybody think that Mercedes, BMW, AUDI or Porsche would let this opportunity pass along without doing something out of it? But the Italians seem to believe that they are fools and don`t know the business (but all this companies could purchase Maserati -and Ferrari!!- out of their pocket money! Press conference with Signore Macchione, Godfather of FIAT-Group! Question: "Signore Macchione, what do you think about the Porsche-takeover of VW?" Macchione: "I can`t explain what I don`t understand!" Little Walter can: Signore Macchione - look at my portfolio of VW and Porsche-stocks. I can understand!!).

But Ferrari celebrated the 40th Anniversary of the Daytona! HALLELUJAH!!! What an important issue ..........!

And while BMW made tons of money with the Mini in the last 5 years, the chaps at FIAT now show up with the new 500 (and out of a sudden they re-create the Abarth-heritage!!), successful - but years too late! The Italians ruined Lancia and almost ruined Alfa Romeo.

So, what can we expect?

When VW re-organized Bentley they asked the Bentley-Clubs "Hey, what do you expect from a future Bentley? We want to lean how to make it right!" And they made it right.

Aston-Martin, almost gone years ago, saved by FORD, re-organized by a German, became very successful and is the main opponent of Maserati today. Mr. Bez is working perfectly with the Aston-Heritage (Le Mans this year, 24hrs race Nuerburgring, model-variants that keep the old names and relates to the modern race activities etc., etc.).

And while Mr. Bez became "Mr. Aston-Martin", Mr. Winkelmann is "Mr. Lamborghini" and Mr. Wiedeking is "Mr. Porsche" (and, yes, Signore Montezemolo was and still is "Mr. Ferrari"!), all of them truly promoting their products - Roberto Roncchi was a nice man but never really showed up!

Maserati needs a marketing that touches the hearts of the enthusiasts, doesn`t matter if they own an old Maserati or not and a ig Boss with character, an individualist with charisma and knowledge, that can promote the products from Maranello the company deserves. So, lets hope the new Chief has all this.

Ciao!
Walter

 

...maybe none of them have been able to repair the horrendous servicing side of the Maserati business? you get FAR better service from almost any other manufacturer ... especially here in Florida, in the states. it's truly a disgrace and a huge black eye to Maserati in north america. i can't speak for european dealerships. calling it "pathetic" is being kind.

if i ran maserati of north america, i'd fire some of these service "professionals" (and i use this term VERY loosely) on the spot!! they are ruining the Maserati ownership from the inside out. it's very unfortunately since the cars are now fantastic.

 

Well, I don`t know the situation in the US - but you find good and bad dealerships/workshops everywhere. I heared some stories about some of the dealers here but there are also some very good service-chaps around. Here were I live is a very good one.

Ciao1
Walter

 

I find this discussion rather aimless, considering that none of us have a shred of insider knowledge to substantiate our opinions. I have very good connections within the company and I have my opinions, and I have great respect for the current (excellent) leadership of Fiat Group. I am sure Mr. MARCHIONNE (PLEASE spell his name correctly!) knows what he is doing. Maserati is profitable but must continue growing and building up on the good work. It needs a CEO that is not only a pretty face but also a capable manager who understands markets, strategic alliances, global segmentation, manufacturing processes as well as finances and corporate organization. In short, Maserati needs an operative CEO who understands the business in depth and that is capable of giving significant added value to the company.

What we don't need is a primadonna "showman" CEO whose only added value is the ability to smile at the cameras and make inane statements written by his minions. So far Marchionne has been very good at weeding out all these "fake" managers from Fiat Group, and the results are tangible. I trust him to do the right thing.

 

OK, agree! But are you claiming Mr. Bez, Mr. Wiedeking as not beeing good CEO`s or "...not understanding the business in depth...?"???? Without them their companies would not exist anymore. I am pretty sure that both understand more of this issue than Signore Montezemolo.

What you list here (organization, financing, developing, manufacturing etc.) is done by other people inhouse but has to be supervised by the CEO!

But only with this you can`t sell those cars in our days nobody REALLY needs and which are pure image toys, reflecting the social status the owner may have!
You need not a "Primadonna" (...and the "holy" ol`Enzo was a true "Primadonna"!) but you need a true representative, who stands and promote "his" product. Those cars are emotional products - so Maserati needs a CEO who can transport the heritage, the vision, the glamour, the image and the desire for those products. In short: they need someone who is capable to create emotions, who has a true standing! Nothing more - but nothing less! Sorry to say, Signore Roncchi had nothing of this altough he was a good manager.

This "musical chair" attitude we saw for the last years are not good for ANY company!

Ciao!
Walter

 

It may not have been a matter of ignoring the occasion and more of a matter of timing, of not having the budget to do anything on a scale to honor it. It was noted in all their publications and on a special website they set up for the Anniversary. All low cost ways to honor the event. After 17 years of loses and support from Fiat, Maserati finally had the proper lineup of cars they needed to succeed. (Automatic QP and the GranTurismo). It was Sink or Swim time. Keep expenses down, focus on high return areas and SELL cars. And it worked they returned their first profit in over 20 years (including the DeTomaso years).

I would interpret that as more of a polite way of saying what everyone already knows. There is no business reason for Porsche to buy VW. This is nothing more than one of the biggest displays of PURE EGO in the history of the automotive industry. This is the only way the Piech could regain control of VW. BTW Fiat stock is doing well right now.

Simple Ferrari makes money and has the funds to do whatever they want.

Again it's all about the money, until Fiat got 2B from the General they were too cash strapped to do anything.

Maybe they did and that is the reason in the US they don't feel that old Maserati owners are potential buyers for new Maseratis! Unfortunately in the US the club that they (incorrectly) perceived as the core of old Maserati owners is a club made up of primarily Biturbo owners, run by a Biturbo owner. Hell I'd come to the same conclusion too.

There are a lot of old GT owners that can easily afford a new Maserati and many have already purchased one.

Maybe you're right with having a dynamic personality as "Mr. Maserati" heading the company. But other than DeTomaso that is something that Maserati has never had, Alfieri died when the company was very young, no one in the Orsi family ever filled that role, nor anyone from Citroen or Fiat. The closest Maserati ever had to a "Mr. Maserati" was either Bertocchi or G. Alfieri. (Not counting a few club egos that have proclaimed themselves as such)

Joe

 

Not sure about your experiences, but so far (touch wood) I have had nothing but great service from Reeves in Tampa.

 

Hi Walter,

I don't claim that Bez/Wiedeking are not good CEO, quite the opposite! But they are very much "operational" CEOs - they DO understand all the aspects of the business. Also, for sure Enzo Ferrari was a "primadonna" but he was also very much a "hands on" CEO, even late in life he was always arguing with his engineers about technical details!! And Montezemolo... well, he comes from "the family" but he is the Italian manager with the broadest understanding and vision of global business. He is not a detail man but no-one in Italy understands the big picture as well as he does.

What I mean is that I despise certain characters who become CEOs because of a "birth-given" right or because they come from some top business school (like all the elitist managers coming out of the French "grand ecoles" or many ivy league managers). These people believe they can be CEOs just by virtue of their background, without giving ANY real added value to the business other than their personality and arrogance.

Maserati is a small company and it cannot afford to be led by an arrogant ivy league prick who only gives "mission statements" and press releases, without understanding a iota of how the business works. I believe that you cannot be the CEO of an industrial company if you don't at least understand how every aspect of the company works. Did you know that Mr. Marchionne himself meets with his engineering VPs to understand the new technology opportunities that are available, and to judge their financial/technical feasibility? Now that is a serious CEO. I bet the Enron managers did not even know or care what their company did... all they did was play with money and financial instruments (and we saw the results).

 

maranello71,
you point it out correctly. NO company can afford a CEO without knowledge of the business (as far as I know Signore Marchionne had no clue about cars as he came from a completly different business!!). But beside the financial, industrial and operational business a good CEO has to understand the strategic direction of his company.

Maserati needs a total "Maserati-man" who knows the business, has the financial overview, knows the operation, sees the strategic development of markets and producs, and ....represents the company as a "rock in the sea"! The company needs calmness to develop their products, a much closer customer-care and service and....a much better marketing! With a company like Maserati that produce only image-toys, you need to treat the company with care and sensibility. You have to polish the heritage and image carefully but...with consequence.

An ex-member of the Ferrari-/Maserati-network in Germany told me his view after working 5 years for them: "When you are told to come to Italy they let you wait for hours, then they discuss everything thru and thru ....but without a final result. You get their orders -but without any explanation- when you are back home! They are not effective at all! The Italians love to work only for Italians. Ferrari and Maserati both are pure arrogance in treating their dealer-network. Fitting a cc-gearbox in the new Quattroporte cost at least 35% of sales figures worldwide. Most of the dealers told that to Ferrari/Maserati prior to the launch of the car. But - noooooo, they did not want to learn! Only the crash in the US-sales of the QP convinced them to change this strategy after wasting 2 years of time!"

What Maserati does NOT need is:

a. a new CEO every 2 years
b. those young chaps coming from the Bologna technical university who don`t care if they sell Pringle-chips or cars and who seem to think that they know everything and the rest of this planet knows nuttin`!!
c. a change of strategic and marketing directions every year!

Just my 2 Lira!

Ciao!
Walter

 

The scary part is that one of them could actually become the President of US.

 

You mean Bush?
Clinton?

LOL

I vote for Walter becoming next CEO of Maserati!

Does this mean I can't email Rhonchi anymore?

 

good thing you don't live in the southEAST of florida. it's beyond a nightmare (outside of maybe The Collection in miami). the ones in ft. laud and west palm (only 6 months old) are laughable.

 

how much scarier could it get that what we just went through for 8 years?? i'd take a clown juggler w/a red nose right now ...whoops, we have that right now.

 

LOL!!!!!!