Ferrari sergio marchionne news

Sergio Marchionne, the former Chairman and CEO of Ferrari, has passed away aged 66.

The sad news comes just days after the Maranello-based company announced “with deep sadness” that Marchionne was unable to return to work, with John Elkann named as Chairman in his stead, and Louis C. Camilleri CEO.

Under Marchionne’s stewardship, Ferrari have once more risen to the top echelon of the Championship, having won four of the 11 races to date in 2018, and challenging for both the Drivers' and Constructors' titles.

Chase Carey, Chairman and CEO of Formula 1, described Marchionne as “both a leader and a friend.”

“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Sergio Marchionne,” he added. “He was a great leader of not just Formula 1 and the automobile world, but the business world overall.

“He led with great passion, energy and insight, and inspired all around him. His contributions to Formula 1 are immeasurable. He was also a true friend to all of us and he will be deeply missed. At this difficult time we extend our deepest sympathies to his family, friends and colleagues.”

Former Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne has died aged 66.

Complications arising from surgery on his shoulder had led to the Italian-Canadian being stood down with "profound sorrow" as the head of the Ferrari and Fiat-Chrysler car companies last Saturday.

On Wednesday, the holding company of the Fiat founding family said that Marchionne had passed away.

"Unfortunately, what we feared has come to pass. Sergio Marchionne, man and friend, is gone," said chairman John Elkann in a statement.

"I believe that the best way to honour his memory is to build on the legacy he left us, continuing to develop the human values of responsibility and openness of which he was the most ardent champion.

"My family and I will be forever grateful for what he has done. Our thoughts are with Manuela, and his sons Alessio and Tyler."

Marchionne was regarded as one of the most powerful and successful chief executives in the automotive world.

And, after adding the title of Ferrari president to his responsibilities in 2014, he became one of F1's most influential figures too.

Marchionne joined Fiat in 2004 and five years later oversaw the Italian car maker's takeover of Chrysler, which saved the American firm from bankruptcy.

He succeeded the long-serving Luca di Montezemolo as Ferrari president in 2014 and in recent seasons F1's most famous team have returned to title-contending form in a fierce battle with Mercedes.

Speaking in a statement last Saturday, Elkann described Marchionne as someone who "always made a difference".

"What struck me about Sergio from the very beginning, wh

On Thursday, speaking to analysts on a conference call after Ferrari's latest financial results, Marchionne said: "We can't really dumb down engine development just to accommodate new entries, right?"

Marchionne's remarks are his first public reaction since teams were given a presentation by Liberty Media of its plans for the sport at the Bahrain Grand Prix last month.

This included the intention to make a more equitable split in prize money - including reducing Ferrari's annual bonus from about $100m now to $40m from 2021.

Marchionne said: "The stuff that's on the table now is potentially workable as a system. The economics are not. That's something we need to go back to Liberty with."

However, he added: "I think we now have enough of a basis to try start having meaningful discussions. And hopefully, we'll get it all resolved by the end of this year one way or the other."

Discussing plans for a budget cap, Marchionne said he could see value in removing some of the costs associated with aerodynamic development.

"The important thing for us... is that we don't touch the nature of the technical development of the power-trains because that is at the heart of what Ferrari does for a living," he said.

"We need to continue to work with Liberty with the commercial rights holders and with the [governing] FIA to try and bring about a sensible equilibrium. If we can't, as I said before, we'll just pull out.

"But we're not there today. We owe the sport a phenomenal effort to try and bring about closure of these items. We'll try and get that done before the end of this year."

Because of medical issues, Marchionne has to give up his positions as CEO and Chairman as of today. He has been absent for a couple of weeks after suffering from surgery-complications.

Mike Manley, former CEO of Ram and Jeep, both FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) brands, will replace Marchionne as the CEO of the FCA. John Elkann and Louis Camilleri, both already employed by Ferrari, will replace him as Chairman and CEO, respectively, of Ferrari. All with immediate effect.

FCA mentioned in a statement that ‘’unexpected complications arose while Mr. Marchionne was recovering from surgery and that these have worsened significantly in recent hours.’’ and ‘’As a consequence, Mr. Marchionne will be unable to return to work.’’

An entrepreneur the automotive world needed

Marchionne was appointed CEO of the FCA in 2004 after been elected in May 2003. He grew out to be one of the most credential persons in the automotive world. He rescued Chrysler from going bankrupt in 2009 and set up a plan to make Ferrari even more profitable. He made an extraordinary contribution in the recent years at the helm of Ferrari.

He has also been quite controversial for the plan to boost the annual Ferrari production to 10.000 units. He also threatened to pull Ferrari out of the Formula 1 after 2020 if he didn’t saw the sport change the way he wanted it to be, mainly engine-wise.

Newly appointed Chairman and CEO

The new Chairman, John Elkann, studied at various universities and gained work experiences in a couple of Fiat Group companies. He worked in the factories, but also on the sales and marketing departments. In our opinion, it’s great to have a Chairman that knows what is going on at the several departments in the company.

The new CEO, Louis Camilleri, gained a lot of work experience as Chairman and CEO of PMI (Philip Morris International) and worked at Altria Group, Inc. since 1978 in various functions.