DETROIT – Sergio Marchionne will long be remembered as a tough, incredibly hard working, take no prisoners, automotive turnaround executive.
His single-minded focus was best on display at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit early in his Fiat Chrysler Automobiles tenure.
"We want the town to come back and this show in particular, and not just for pride or because of Chrysler but because of the other guys in town and because it is an indicator of the direction and the Motown we all grew up with. It's a wonderful town. I think it needs to own the car market and I think it would be a wonderful thing if it happened," he said.
Marchionne was born June 17, 1952 in Chieti, Italy and lived there until age 13 when his parents brought the family to Toronto. With Italian and Canadian dual citizenship he graduated from the University of Toronto with a philosophy degree. Then he decided on a business career. He attended the University of Windsor where he earned a masters of business administration. He picked up his CPA thereafter. And if that wasn't enough schooling, Marchionne also went to law school.
From there Marchionne rose quickly as a CPA, then CFO and chief legal counsel for a number of Canadian industrial companies.Then he moved to Switzerland where he assumed the CEO job of major chemical companies.
In 2003 he took a seat on the Fiat board of directors and his automotive career was off and running. He became CEO and quickly turned around the moribund Italian auto company getting profitable by 2006.
When Detroit's automakers hit the skids in 2008, Marchionne saw the opportunity to not only improve Fiat but also create a better global car company. When the Obama administration was seriously considering shuttering Chrysler Corporation after its bankruptcy, Marchionne was the only bidder. He struck a deal with nearly $8 billion U.S. government loans and rolled up the sleeves of his rumpled black sweater and went to work.
"We're learning how to manage our survival," he said.
He introduced himself as a "metal basher" in his first days he set out a five-year plan.
"We're not going back for more money and if we screw this up it's ours, we own it, 100 percent," he said.
He told everyone what he was going to do: Make and sell lots of better and cooler cars, profitably. And then did it, while every analyst thought his plans were impossible.
"We have been accused of being cheap on the inside, as you well know, cutting corners. That's gone, you know, so come on down and take a look at this -- it's a new Chrysler," he said.
The first inkling Marchionne's Chrysler was really different came during the 2011 Super Bowl as Eminem defiantly helped Chrysler push back against its old image in the stunning "Imported from Detroit" commercial. The chain-smoking Marchionne tirelessly ran Fiat, Chrysler, Maserati, Alfa Romeo and Ferrari all at the same time. He was often sleeping on the corporate jet and holding meetings that could last 24 hours or more.
Two years after the taking over Chrysler he paid the government back.
"I think this is gonna close a painful and necessary chapter in our history. It needed to come to a close," he said.
Not long thereafter Marchionne took FCA public. As FCA continued to grow, largely on the success of Jeep and Ram trucks, Marchionne became the most quotable executive in the business.
"On the second question: I'm not going to give you an answer and I also will not tell you what I had for breakfast. That's getting into my shorts to be perfectly honest," he once said.
He wasn't without his controversy. He actually told customers not to buy the Fiat 500 electric vehicle. He had to apologize for calling one of his Fiat engines an ethnic Italian name not repeatable. He angrily defended the company against the notion FCA cheated on emissions like Volkswagen.
"This is absolute nonsense. Anybody who draws a parallel between us and VA on this basis is smoking illegal material!" he said.
Marchionne became an automotive industry legend by exceeding every expectation and profit goal. He intended to retire from his frenetic pace in 2019, but never made it. His health failed him six months before that goal line. Before that, he told everyone not to worry about his departure, having made plans long in advance.
"And since this plan has been developed by the management team, my successor is from that fold, I think it's relatively safe to assume that you're gonna get similar performance," he said.
It is one very tough act to follow.
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