REPORT: Fiat's Marchionne could replace Nardelli as Chrysler CEO in management shake-up royale
If you were surprised by the "resignation" of GM chief Rick Wagoner late last month, get used to the idea. Chrysler reportedly has some major management changes in store as well, including a new seven-member executive board including representatives from Fiat and the Obama administration's automotive task force. But while Bob Nardelli may stay on to chair that board, Chrysler's next CEO may not even be American. Sources close to the ongoing negotiations between Chrysler LLC and the Fiat Group suggest that part of the new arrangement could see Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionnne taking the top job at the Detroit automaker with which he's jumping into bed.Sound crazy? Not as crazy as you might think. The architect of Fiat's impressive turn-around from a struggling conglomerate into one of Europe's biggest automakers, Marchionne is a Canadian citizen and was educated just a hop, skip and a jump away from Detroit in Windsor, Ontario. Further, he holds court twice a month at the suburban Chicago offices of Fiat's agricultural subsidiary, Case New Holland. Obama has publicly praised Marchionne's management, which could see him take a hands-on approach to running the two allied companies similar to how Carlos Ghosn, another highly rated European automotive executive, runs Nissan and Renault.
Chrysler and Fiat have until the end of the month to iron out a plan, but it may be more complicated than straight-up bilateral negotiations, as several third parties also figure into the mix. First is Cerberus Capital Management, which owns a majority stake in Chrysler at the moment. Next up is Daimler, which is still locked in negotiations with Cerberus to offload its remaining stake in Chrysler. After throwing in representatives from the United Auto Workers, some of America's biggest financial institutions (many not faring much better than Chrysler themselves) hold several billions in the company's debt. Sure, Marchionne may get the job, but he's going to have one heck of a time getting all this sorted out.
[Source: Automotive News – subs. req'd]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
zamafir 1:42PM (4/13/2009)
Wonderful, after all the 'magic' nardelli worked at home depot and chrsyler, i'll be stoked to see someone with real experience running a business, especially a car business, take the lead.
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Gary Blomquist 1:43PM (4/13/2009)
If Chrysler is too survive, then it's "bend over" time. Nardelli should step down, lets see what Fiat can do with the Penta-Star.
Perusing the headlines, it looks like Chrysler is potentially in a less precarious position than GM, IMO.
GM, looks like it's going to be a major break up of their bread and butter lines; Buick, Saturn, Pontiac, etc...
At least Chrysler has a suitor, and Chrysler better "cow tow" and say "Yes Mam, Yes Sir", and let Fiat have it's way for now.
There is a good chance that Fiat may just do a better job than Daimler.
Maybe Fiat won't rape Chrysler like Daimler did.
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Alex 1:46PM (4/13/2009)
If the deal with Fiat does not go through, Nardelli will lose his job. If the deal does go through, Nardelli will lose his job.
Looks like we can't lose!
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inteller 1:49PM (4/13/2009)
I wonder if Daimler is reconsidering their share now that FIAT is involved? I bet that turd doesn't look so bad to them now that there is an Italian connection.
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Jei 1:50PM (4/13/2009)
Wow! I mean....wow!
Could be a go thing to see new top management in control. At least, the world would be watching to see if new ideas and business concepts will actually make Chrysler strong again. We're all hoping that their creative department keeps pumping exciting concepts for possible future development.
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Steve Lopez 2:01PM (4/13/2009)
Looks like Chrysler might survive this big mess.
I am glad that someone with automotive experience is at the helm of Chrysler.
Out with Nardelli and the Obama people and leave in the auto experts.
It's a wait and see thing.
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zamafir 2:17PM (4/13/2009)
Or experts in general, ford is where they are because they hired someone competent to run their company. some still consider lutz an 'expert' regardless of where GM currently is. Thankfully Fiat, like VW, and a few other larger groups, is doing alright right now, so hopefully they'll run this company effectively like a business, as Ford's CEO has. At least the Obama crew has had the reasonable foresight to recognize Wagoner wasn't helping GM, which is more than we can say of Lutz.
why not the LS2LS7? 2:18PM (4/13/2009)
Oh, he'll be "hands on". That's like a manager saying he has an "open door" policy.
Are there any real reasons to think the head of FIAT is automatically better than other candidates?
I find it odd Ghosn is still held up as a big deal. He did make a big change when he started, but since then Nissan hasn't done anything special.
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Throwback 2:48PM (4/13/2009)
No reason to think Sergio is automatically better. But he is buying (getting a gift?) Chrysler, to the buyer go the spoils, if there are any left.
Blake Luttrell 2:26PM (4/13/2009)
Fiat is really looking to be the perfect company to merge with/take over Chrysler. I have high hopes for this partnership.
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the_MVP_X 3:18PM (4/13/2009)
U can kiss muscle cars goodbye.
Rick C. 4:00PM (4/13/2009)
Maybe, but it was never my scene anyways. Think of the vehicles they built in the past derived from road racers and rally cars. I for one would welcome a modern Integrale as a true alternative to the Subaru and Mitsu products.
Frank 3:49PM (4/13/2009)
Why? Remember the old Hercules movies? Italians like and know how to do muscle!
tanooki2003 3:59PM (4/13/2009)
Oh Boo hoo the_MVP_X. It's not like they were ever hot sellers over the competition. They were mostly in the category known as "choice select", which means that muscle cars catered to only the die hard fans who still like to live in the 60's, 70's and maybe even 80's automotive era.
Unfortunate for you that the majority of the population just want a simple car that handles well, gets reasonably decent gas mileage, has plenty of interior space including the trunk, aerodynamic and modern design, and is not as large as a cruise ship, hence the Accord, Camry, Sonata, Altima, G35//37x, Optima, Corolla, Elantra, Civic, Sentra, Impreza, Lancer class of cars, knowing that more than one of the cars I have listed have topped the sales charts for many years, and/or is the company's bread & butter high profit car. Unfortunately muscle cars just don't fall in that type of category and will continue to drop in sales as the years go by.
the_MVP_X 4:03PM (4/13/2009)
LoL, how many muscle cars u see from Italy, and Hercules was greek .
Frank 4:30PM (4/13/2009)
Actually Hercules is the Roman name. But the movies were Italian and the "muscled" actors were Italian.
Galley 2:22PM (4/13/2009)
I don't care if they're a freaking Martian, they just need someone to get in there and "kick ass and take names".
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Swede 2:30PM (4/13/2009)
In before Andrew comment about Autoblog mixing up Nissan and Renault again.
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Andrew 6:33AM (4/14/2009)
Haha, I didn't even read that part of the article XD
Renault owns Nissan, not the other way around.
the_MVP_X 2:39PM (4/13/2009)
I see no good in this move.
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