10 Things You Didn't Know About Sergio | Planet F1 | Formula One | Features | Editorial --Luca Montezemolo has quit as head of Ferrari after 23 years in the job, but if Fernando Alonso was worried about the direction the company might be taking, he should read new boss Sergio Marchionne's c.v. Ferrari's star asset might have been unsettled by the loss of team boss Stefano Domenicali, engine chief Luca Marmorini and CEO Montezemolo all in one season, but new boss Marchionne has a happy knack of turning things round. So here's 10 things about the new 'Head of the Family'. 1. Marchionne was born in Chieti, Abruzzo in Italy, but at the age of 14, his family emigrated to Toronto, Canada. As a result, he has dual Canadian and Italian citizenship and speaks fluent English and Italian. 2. He trained in business and law and from 1983 to 1985 worked as an accountant and tax specialist for Deloitte & Touche in Canada. He climbed up the greasy corporate pole with jobs in major Canadian and Swiss companies. 3. A long time car fanatic, Marchionne was elected as an independent director of Fiat S.p.A. in May 2003, and then was appointed CEO in 2004 (ironically, the last year of Michael Schumacher's extraordinary run of five years on top for Fiat's major brand, Ferrari). 4. Marchionne helped turn round the Fiat Group from a basket case to profitability in 2006 less than two years after taking over. In 2009, he was instrumental in Fiat Group forming an alliance with the US car giant Chrysler. 5. In June 2009, when Chrysler emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Fiat Group received a 20% stake in Chrysler and Marchionne was appointed CEO. Chrysler cleared their debts to the Canadian and US Treasury in 2011, when Fiat's stake in Chrysler increased to 53.5% and Marchionne became Chairman of Chrysler. 6. While Luca Montezemolo favoured the blue blazer, Sergio goes for the more informal 'Steve Jobs look'. He prefers green or black pullover sweaters worn on top of a button-down shirt and black slacks. Car and Driver magazine ran a parody of him with their 'Marchionne Doll' that could be dressed in a variety of outfits... all the same 7. He doesn't go in for 'Us and Them' management style. He vetoed the traditional penthouse office suite of the Chrysler chairman for a smaller office near the engineering department. 8. He shares one of Flavio Briatore's former vices. He's a chain smoker. 9. His management style has been described as 'unorthodox'. He's not afraid to speak his mind either, as he has done about the 'unacceptability' of Ferrari not winning races. At a J.D.Power Automotive conference he once described the interest rates Chrysler were paying on US and Canadian loans as "Shyster rates". He then had to apologise for the comment, to both of the government treasuries and the Jewish community. 10. He indulges his passion for fast Chryslers, Ferraris and Maseratis at track days and company events. His biggest Fail! though was when he wrecked his company-owned Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano while driving in Switzerland in 2007. The accident was never going to "polish out".--
Thanks for the info. Interesting, but does he like cars. And is it true he plans to move the Fiat/Chrysler headquarters to NYC?
Seems point 10 shows he is a car person. Accidents happen. I wont hold that against him. Hopefully a sense of calm will be restored soon and a positive direction for Ferrari again provided. Time will tell.
No. 6...LOL! That's pretty good actually, time will tell...... LdM will do fine.....still, last link direct F1 to Enzo is lost.
I like 7 myself. A 'bean counter' who has the insight to listen to his automotive engineers is a smart bean counter. I hope that is true at least.
Having heard what some of his plans for the company are - how he wants to use Ferrari to give more mundane FIAT's some prestige to match the likes of AUDI and BMW, and how he wants to increase production drastically, along with some rather over-simplistic ideas as to how to turn the F1 team around, alarm bells are ringing for Me too!
^ this one has me torn. Normally I do not trust bean counters, shady characters they are always looking to take away things that are fun (at least in my experience). BUT if 7 is correct then I wonder, if he posited himself near the engineers then maybe he understands their importance and values their efforts in building the best that can be built. I'm a fan for now.
I always wonder about these interwebz lists....if there were 9 or 11 things would there still be a list?
The thing is, Ferrari is bound to lose it's exclusivity now. In Malaysia, we have tonnes of Ferraris running. Tonnes. But, people still smile, appreciate, snap pictures when one pull up. The same cannot be said for Porsche. No one cares about Porsches here. They park it at the side of the road, it doesn't look appealing at all, etc etc. I'm really afraid Ferrari will be going down that road too. SOmetimes, all this merger isn't really good after all.
I think SM has a great knack at getting good people to run his businesses. The company fiddle farted with Alfa for a while, but decided they had to return to the 1950s-80s DNA to achieve a real nitch. If they went with re-engineered Fiat's, they faced strong competition from VW's SEAT company. But with a front engine rear wheel drive configuration, they can go after Jaguar, Mercedes, BMW and Audi with the same technology. Look at the Maserati turn around.
+1. Ferrari actually do not need 'help'. SM I feel from what I see in the press here in Europe is not about to destroy Ferrari. LdM leaving was never going to be a nice exit. He was so tied to the company for so long on many levels. Im willing to give SM a chance to work with Ferrari and hopefully keep it strong. Is he LdM no....no one is. That does not mean he is incapable of a positive impact. Im not sure about the swift judgements here in so little time.
he's nothing more than an ego maniac that thinks he's smarter than EVERYONE! He will destroy Ferrari as he increases production to help save that miserable excuse of an automobile company Fiat. If it weren't for the cash cow called Jeep and Dodge trucks, all would be lost.
I´m not a fan of Marchione, and actually I think that he probably is going to be negative for Ferrari, but at Fiat-Chrysler he must had done something right. Selling Dodge trucks probably is not so easy as it seems as Chrysler was in the sh*t before FIAT entered the scene. Yes, Marchione had that little help from Obama, but Chrysler was offered to other car companies almost for free and all of them ran away from that wreck.
I saw two 60 Minutes interviews with him and I would have to agree with you. What he was able to pull at FIAT is close to a miracle; the fact that he managed to resurrect Chrysler is another miracle and I am sure he will put the fire under the Ferrari people behinds. I am waiting to see what is going to happen with Alfa Romeo and then hopefully he will turn his attention to Lancia. I am doing my part and I am on my second 500 Abarth already
You (and me) were right. Nowadays it is more than clear what Marchionne is doing to Ferrari. I wish he could leave the Ferrari board immediately and be replaced by someone with the same spirit, passion and values of the founder (and Montezemolo) but considering the reality the only thing could stop him is God... sorry (and ashamed) to think like this but this man does not give a **** about the exclusivity, the values and the mission of the brand, he just wants to fill his pockets with Ferrari shares, dope their values with a Porsche business plan and transform a myth into a fast car manufacturer.
After the last rumors about making a Ferrari SUV (which he always managed to ward off in the past) I have decided to create a thread in this community about how Ferrari fans could stop him. Shortly I will post it.
