Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne will take over as chairman of of Ferrari after Luca Cordero di Montezemolo quits next month.
Fiat said in a statement Montezemolo would leave on 13 October after Ferrari celebrates 60 years in America.
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“Since 1991, Ferrari achieved significant results under Montezemolo’s chairmanship in terms of both financial performance and its standing in the world of racing. Under his leadership, Ferrari boasted a world-class team and numerous record-setting achievements,” the statement said.
But there have been underlying tensions between Marchionne and Montezemolo as a Reuters report noted. It said Montezemolo’s exit had been widely expected after escalating clashes between the two executives over strategy and the role of Ferrari within the Fiat group.
While Marchionne wants to expand the Fiat group’s involvement in luxury cars to better compete with Volkswagen, which owns Lamborghini, Montezemolo wanted to maintain Ferrari’s autonomous status and limit sales to about 7,000 cars a year to preserve the brand’s exclusivity.
It has long been said he wanted to sell one less car a year than the market demanded.
Marchionne’s goal of having Ferrari bolster a shift by Fiat into upscale cars as part of its merger with Chrysler clashed with Montezemolo’s goal of maintaining Ferrari’s exclusive status, Reuters added.
This was reflected in Fiat’s statement.
“On behalf of my family and myself, I would like to thank Luca for all he has done for both Fiat and Ferrari”, said Fiat chairman, John Elkann. He held several key positions with the group, including serving as chairman of Fiat from 2004 to 2010, and we shared many challenging but also rewarding moments. Luca leaves us with my most sincere and heartfelt wishes for his future professional endeavors and the hope, I am certain shared by us both, that Ferrari will return to victory very soon.”
“Luca and I were appointed to the Fiat board of directors on the very same day back in 2003”, said Marchionne. “One year later, he became chairman and I became CEO. We worked side by side, sharing concerns, difficulties and successes. As chairman of Ferrari, he drove the company to a new level of technological and organisational excellence which also brought with it outstanding financial results. Luca and I have discussed the future of Ferrari at length. And our mutual desire to see Ferrari achieve its true potential on the track has led to misunderstandings which became clearly visible over the last weekend. I want to thank Luca for all he has done for Fiat, for Ferrari and for me personally.”
