Sergio Marchionne: Fiat's
man of the moment
Sergio Marchionne,
56, is riding high after the success of turning around Fiat.
Here's a flavour
of the motor industry's man of the moment.
- The colourful Fiat chief
executive is said to shun suits in favour of blue sweaters and love
cars - in 2007 he hit the headlines when he crashed his Ferrari 599
GTB Fiorano on a highway in Switzerland.
- Mr Marchionne was born on
June 17, 1952 and has dual Canadian and Italian citizenship.
- Fiat appointed him chief
executive in June 2004. He brought the carmaker back to profit in 2005
by slashing jobs and speeding up the introduction of new models, such
as the retro Cinquecento, of which he said: "We are now the Apple of
carmakers; the new 500 is our iPod."
- Italy’s biggest manufacturer
had run up €8bn (£7bn) of losses in the four years before he
took over. He has said of of the experience: "We spit blood to clean
up and restart Fiat. When I took over there was a smell of death here."
- Mr Marchionne has been put
in the frame as a possible buyer of General Motor’s European arm, which
includes the Vauxhall and Opel marques.
- On Chrysler, he has said
he would be willing to run the carmaker if asked. Unions have been
the focus of tough talk and he has been adamant that staff agree to
cut labour costs before any tie-up with Fiat can take place. “We cannot
commit to this organisation unless we see light at the end of the tunnel,”
he said.
- His professional career
started at Deloitte & Touche, Canada in 1983, where he was a tax
specialist. Not only is he a chartered accountant and lawyer, he also
has an MBA.
- UBS, the Swiss bank UBS
that suffered crippling losses from the subprime crisis, appointed
Mr Marchionne as non-executive vice-chairman last year to steady investor
confidence. He has had executive roles at Lawson Mardon Group of Toronto,
Glenex Industries, Alusuisse Lonzo (Algroup), and Societe Generale
de Surveillance (SGS) in Geneva.
- Mr Marchionne is a Cavaliere
del Lavoro, an Italian order of merit.
