Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Ferrari and CNH Industrial have a new leader at the helm after chief executive Sergio Marchionne’s health took an unexpected turn.
Marchionne, 66, underwent shoulder surgery in Switzerland and has been recovering since the end of June but has had complications that will see Mike Manley take charge as chief executive of FCA.
Former Philip Morris International chairman Louis Carey Camilleri will also step in as Ferrari chief executive officer and FCA and CNH’s controlling shareholder John Elkann has been made Ferrari chairman, as a result of Marchionne’s declining health.
Marchionne’s replacements will be permanent, according to Reuters, which comes ahead of his planned retirement in early 2019.
Elkann says the now former FCA chief executive was an “enlightened leader”.
“Over the past 14 years together we have lived through successes and difficulties, internal and external crises, but also unique and unrepeatable moments, both personal and professional,” he says in a statement.
“He taught us to think differently and to have the courage to change, often in unconventional ways, always acting with a sense of responsibility for the companies and their people,” Elkann reveals.
“It has been my privilege to have had Sergio at my side for all these years,” he adds.
Marchionne has been championed for his saving of Fiat from possible ruin in the early-to-mid 2000s, and the merging of Chrysler after its bankruptcy in 2009, caused by the Global Financial Crisis.
He also replaced former Ferrari chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo four years ago after famously clashing with him about the expansion of production volume from 7000 to 10,000 cars per year to meet increased demand.
Camilleri joined the Ferrari board five years ago, having chaired Kraft Foods from 2001-2007 and the Philip Morris tobacco giant from 2008-2013.
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