Succeeding Sergio 1952-2018 Tom Jensen
The head of Jeep and Ram will step in to run FCA, but can anyone really replace SERGIO MARCHIONNE?
Mike Manley and Louis Carey Camilleri have something big in common: They both have a tough act to follow. In fact, they both have the same tough act to follow, and it’s going to challenge them both to live up to the high standards set by their predecessor.
Manley and Camilleri have the unenviable task of succeeding the late Sergio Marchionne, 66, who died July 25 in a Zurich hospital, after suffering complications following surgery for shoulder cancer.
Marchionne served as CEO of both Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, which Manley will now lead, and the legendary Italian sports maker Ferrari, a responsibility that now falls on the shoulders of Camilleri.
Part of the challenge for the two newly minted CEOs will be simply to head their respective companies, which in this time of profound and lightning-fast change in the automotive industry is daunting.
More than that, though, Marchionne was a Car Guy, a transformational character who followed in the footsteps of bold visionaries such as Lee Iacocca, John DeLorean, Bob Lutz and in more recent times Elon Musk. Marchionne was by turns brilliant, fiercely independent, stubborn, opinionated, controversial and deeply flawed. But did he ever love his cars.
Not only did Marchionne bring Fiat and Chrysler back from the dead, he oversaw the return of Alfa Romeo to North America, something few believed would succeed.
A holder of dual citizenship in Canada and Italy, Marchionne was revered for his work, not all of which, in fairness, panned out.
But during his tenure, there was a lot more good than bad for FCA and Ferrari. A whole lot more.
“He was a giant in the auto industry, a friend of the ItalianCanadian community, and a visionary in the corporate world,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said of Marchionne.
“Sergio created a remarkable legacy in the automotive industry,” said General Motors CEO Mary Barra.
So who are these leaders tasked with replacing a revered, larger-than-life character?
Manley, 54, was born in Edenbridge, England, and educated at Ashridge Management College there. He joined DaimlerChrysler, which later blended to form part of FCA, in 2000. Eight years later, Manley was appointed to the position of executive vicepresident — international sales and global-product planning operations. In that role, he was responsible for product planning and all sales operations outside of North America.
In June 2009, Manley took over the Jeep brand, arguably the flagship line of the entire FCA operation, adding oversight of the important Ram truck brand in 2015.
Clearly, he is a player in the eyes of FCA’s board of directors.
In issuing a “hold” recommendation on FCA stock, CFRA Research senior equity analyst Efraim Levy wrote that while “Manley has a track record of success. Still … we often see increased corporate risk of underperformance following the exit of a dynamic, transformative and charismatic leader.”
The Detroit News had no such hesitations, writing that “insiders say Manley is the smartest man in the room, a brilliant executive focused on achieving the company's goal of making Jeep a super-brand. … Manley has relentlessly focused his staff on Jeep’s core values to make sure the brand's personality stands out in a crowded marketplace.”
It’s a different situation at Ferrari, which produces only a small fraction of the cars that FCA does on a yearly basis. Camilleri, the new boss, is the former chairman of tobacco company Philip Morris International.
A native of Egypt, Camilleri, 63, was hired in 1978 by Philip Morris in Switzerland, where he was educated.
He was chairman of Kraft Foods from 2002-’07 and chairman and CEO of Philip Morris from 2008-’13.
He was been on Ferrari’s board of directors since 2015.
For both executives, the next year will come fast and furious, as they take over the reins of their respective operations and try to shape them to their respective visions.