And not incidentally, saving many thousands of jobs in manufacturing and everything related to building and selling automobiles. The success also confirms the wisdom of the multi-billion-dollar federal bailout by repaying it years ahead of schedule as sales by the Auburn Hills, Mich., automaker soared and profits roared.
Marchionne was mobbed by reporters as he appeared on stage after the Fiat 500 introduction at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show. (Photo: Bob Golfen) In a corporate world of button-down conformity, Marchionne, 59, appears in his trademark black sweater as a maverick whose remarkable vision and notorious work ethic had already rescued Fiat from insolvency before tackling Chrysler’s problems.While there were many doubters about the pairing up of the two widely divergent companies from different continents and cultures, Marchionne was able to play to each one’s strengths ? such as Fiat’s expertise with small engines and Chrysler’s mastery of trucks and SUVs ? working to merge their brands, engines, platforms, purchasing and dealers.
Fiat now owns 53.5 percent of Chrysler ? the United Auto Workers union owns 46.5 percent ? which it expects to increase to 58 percent next year and 60 percent by 2014.
In his iconoclastic style, Marchionne also reached deep into Chrysler and Fiat to uncover the best and brightest managers, designers and engineers who had languished beneath numbing bureaucracies and gave them a shot at turning things around. Which they mostly did, although he is also known for acting quickly to replace those who fail to live up to his tough standards.
While the auto industry overall has come back strong this year in the United States, the consistent leaders in recent months have been Chrysler products, growing 45 percent over last year’s lackluster sales with an operating profit that is expected to reach $5 billion.
Marchionne with a cutaway mockup of a new Fiat engine being introduced for production at a Chrysler plant in Michigan. (Photo: Chrysler) Most notable among the successes has been the power of the Jeep brand, which has led Chrysler’s resurgence; the automaker recently announcing that it would invest $500 million in Toledo, Ohio, to build more Jeeps. Not everything has bloomed under Marchionne’s leadership, however, with Fiat’s re-entry to the U.S. market with its tiny but stylish 500 stumbling with disappointing sales.
The automaker plans to introduce dozens of new models that blend the Chrysler and Fiat platforms and technologies in coming years, including some from Fiat-owned Alfa Romeo and Lancia. An expected new SUV entry from another Fiat company, Maserati, would combine the platform of the Jeep Grand Cherokee/Dodge Durango with the engine and styling from the high-end Italian automaker.
A compact car with a familiar name, the Dodge Dart, will debut at the upcoming Detroit Auto Show, built on a platform from the Lancia division.
At the same time, there has been good news for performance-car fans as Chrysler moved to turn its SRT performance arm into a division all its own, headed by the popular former Dodge head Ralph Gilles. Powerful new versions of such memorable cars as the Dodge Charger Super Bee and Challenger Yellow Jacket were shown at the Detroit show.
There have been other heroes of the U.S. auto industry this year, which has served as a major building block for the nation’s slow economic recovery, but Marchionne’s unique style and towering ability marks him as a one-of-a-kind leader in a tough business.
Bob Golfen, Automotive Editor for SPEED.com, is a veteran auto writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, with a passion for collector cars, car culture and the automotive lifestyle. SPEED.com fans can email Bob Golfen at
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