Sergio Marchione dead at age 66

[Mike66Chryslers]

While I didn't like starving the Chrysler and Dodge full size cars and focusing on Alfa Romeo and Mesarati instead probably was due to his view that Chrysler and Dodge brands didn't have much world wide name recognition while Alfa Romeo and Mesarati did and thereby he focused on them instead in order to improve their world wide sales potential compared to what could be achieved with those same dollars if invested in the Chrysler/Dodge brands and trying to market them around the world. Hard to argue with even though I didn't like it. Unfortunately, they might have done better if passenger car sales hadn't started tanking due to consumers' mad rush to SUVs. Ford basically has exited that market. So timing for Sergio was regrettable.

It would not surprise me if the push to bring Alfa Romeo and Maserati back to North America wasn't actually Sergio's idea but came from the Agnelli family, majority owners of FCA.

 

[Dobalovr]

I find myself agreeing with both of you....

 

[twostick]

Auto News article is informative, but does anyone really believe it was shoulder surgery?

I read an article that said it was for some kind of cancer in his shoulder and that a cerebral embolism took him out.

Marchionne suffered embolism during cancer surgery

Kevin

 

[Carmine]

It seems you are saying the old Chrysler Corporation would have done just fine without Fiat or Sergio, but I don't agree about the part without Sergio.

Perhaps it sounds that way, but it's not really what I intended... I read your post this morning before the drive in and thought about how to answer that.

What the company needed in late 1978, and then in late 2009, was strong leadership focused on fixing the core business. The pieces existed in each case. Maybe it's that crisis managers become addicted to milking the life out of products. A good skill when the money isn't there, but initial success breeds overconfidence.

Iacocca brought financial discipline and cleaned up manufacturing quality, and hit a few home runs. He then relied too long and too hard on the K-platform and became distracted with non-core expansions.

Marchione did the same on financials and manufacturing, but missed on a few key products and then starved the golden goose and become distracted by Alfa.

One key difference was Iacocca, a larger-than-life personality, gave the impression that he was absolutely committed to Chrysler's success and managers drove that message down to the last entry-level floor-sweeper. He obviously knew the company was a train wreck when he arrived, but never gave that impression publicaly.

Marchione perhaps of equal intellectual talent, was aloof and sent the opposite message... Our long-term survival relies upon outsiders. Merging with GM or some other company. He was publicly critical of his own company in an information age that doesn't tolerate such missteps.

Thus Marchione never created the "esprit de corp" that made people go the extra mile, or desire to join the team.

(BTW there is a super-obvious political parallel here, but I'll stay on target)

Then there was the arrogance of thinking you were going to "retrain" the American driver to love 1.4L stick shifts, because that's what Fiat had in their arsenal... The opposite of what the Japanese did to sell in this market. I believe it may have been the Agnelli's pushing Alfa, but it should have been monitized when VW wanted it. They're not even good sellers in Europe, let alone the US or Asia. Read some of the early reviews on the Gulia; terrible.

So it's not that I disagree about him saving the company, it's that I believ others could have done as well, and even better. For those reasons, I'll give his tenure a solid "C".

 

[traintech55]

I will not speak bad about someone after they passed away. He did his best and succeeded and for that he deserves the proper praise. He also passed the same way my father did and that is extremely hard on his family. My heart and blessing go out to them.

 

[70bigblockdodge]

What the company needed in late 1978, and then in late 2009, was strong leadership focused on fixing the core business

This is key, period, like the guy or not almost no company will survive with piss poor management. Of course the people that are good at this, most of the time have huge egos and why the majority of people view them poorly. Then a couple of bad apples F-nuts ( name not mentioned) and his sellout to the Germans, or all the golden parachute people, also the UAW scandal mentioned in last few days.
It's nowonder why the Italians assassinate CEOs and other management.

 

[saforwardlook]

This is key, period, like the guy or not almost no company will survive with piss poor management. Of course the people that are good at this, most of the time have huge egos and why the majority of people view them poorly. Then a couple of bad apples F-nuts ( name not mentioned) and his sellout to the Germans, or all the golden parachute people, also the UAW scandal mentioned in last few days.
It's nowonder why the Italians assassinate CEOs and other management.

Yeah, Sergio was no complete sellout Bob Eaton or Joe Nardelli of Cerberus , the latter who wanted to outsource manufacturing to China early on and wanted to buy Nissan V6s for Chrysler rather than develop the Pentastar V6. Like it or not, when Obama dispatched a team to figure out what to do with Chrysler, I believe they pursued the best option on the table at the time. Guys like Romney just wanted to let it die. The rest is history.

Yeah Sergio had a big ego, but he left the executive office in the Chrysler tower empty and had his office situated on the same floor as other engineers. I didn't think he was doing enough on EVs, but then I didn't have to look at his balance sheet every day. Say what you will, I am just glad he was there are was very competent and driven. I would have given him a solid B. RIP

 

[saforwardlook]

Probably the last bit of additional information we will see........................................not surprising.......................

Terms of Service Violation

 

[Carmine]

Yeah, Sergio was no sellout Bob Eaton or Joe Nardelli of Cerberus, the latter who wanted to outsource manufacturing to China early on and wanted to buy Nissan V6s for Chrysler rather than develop the Pentastar V6. Like it or not, when Obama dispatched a team to figure out what to do with Chrysler, I believe they pursued the best option on the table at the time. Guys like Romney just wanted to let it die. The rest is history.

Yeah Sergio had a big ego, but he left the executive office in the Chrysler tower empty and had his office situated on the same floor as other engineers. I didn't think he was doing enough on EVs, but then I didn't have to look at his balance sheet every day. Say what you will, I am just glad he was there are was very competent and driven. RIP

*Robert Nardelli, not that it really matters.

We're not that far apart Steve. I think I'm a bit more harsh because I've seen so much squandered goodwill from employees, dealers and customers for no good reason.

I'm glad a competent person took the helm in 2007. Things certainly could have turned out much worse.

I wish there were a "simulation" of an alternate time line where we could see the impact of different decisions. For example, the Cerberus era takes a lot of heat for suggesting a re-branded Nissan Versa as a small car, but forgetting that Sergio was suggesting the same thing about 8 years later.

The next few should be plenty exciting regardless. Hopefully Marchione is in a better place.

 

[Carmine]

Probably the last bit of additional information we will see........................................not surprising.......................

Terms of Service Violation

Good article.

 

[saforwardlook]

*Robert Nardelli, not that it really matters.

We're not that far apart Steve. I think I'm a bit more harsh because I've seen so much squandered goodwill from employees, dealers and customers for no good reason.

I'm glad a competent person took the helm in 2007. Things certainly could have turned out much worse.

I wish there were a "simulation" of an alternate time line where we could see the impact of different decisions. For example, the Cerberus era takes a lot of heat for suggesting a re-branded Nissan Versa as a small car, but forgetting that Sergio was suggesting the same thing about 8 years later.

The next few should be plenty exciting regardless. Hopefully Marchione is in a better place.

I knew better, yes Bob or Robert Nardelli

I also agree that we are close on our views. I am actually looking forward to see what Manley has in store. I hear the "Iceman" is "motivated" and a hands on "perfectionist". I like how that sounds.

It is reported that Manley got that "Iceman" nickname when previously working at a Vauxhall dealership: "His nickname at Vauxhall was “the Iceman,” because one day, frustrated by his unreliable cellphone, Manley coolly placed it on the ground in the parking lot and ran it over with his car."

Nonetheless, I wish all you guys still there good things going forward. There will be new opportunities for some positive changes after the last 11 years or so.

 

[Carmine]

I knew better, yes Bob or Robert Nardelli

I also agree that we are close on our views. I am actually looking forward to see what Manley has in store. I hear the "Iceman" is "motivated" and a hands on "perfectionist". I like how that sounds.

It is reported that Manley got that "Iceman" nickname when previously working at a Vauxhall dealership: "His nickname at Vauxhall was “the Iceman,” because one day, frustrated by his unreliable cellphone, Manley coolly placed it on the ground in the parking lot and ran it over with his car."

Nonetheless, I wish all you guys still there good things going forward. There will be new opportunities for some positive changes after the last 11 years or so.

Exactly my hope as well.

 

[saforwardlook]

Exactly my hope as well.

I just wanted to add Carmine that I also understand your perspective that Sergio was too insular and not well tuned in to employee morale, and could have been more personable in order to stimulate company excitement , thereby better achieving coprorate "Greatness". I agree that is a major flaw for a leader of any large organization.

 

[LeBaron1973]

I seem to recall reading that Chrysler management, at the time of the Daimler purchase/merger were panicked into believing they needed to enlarge to survive so did the deal.

An "honest" Daimler-Chrysler business may have succeeded had the Germans admitted their true intentions. Anyway, Chrysler is still around which is good.

 

[Mike66Chryslers]

I seem to recall reading that Chrysler management, at the time of the Daimler purchase/merger were panicked into believing they needed to enlarge to survive so did the deal.

An "honest" Daimler-Chrysler business may have succeeded had the Germans admitted their true intentions. Anyway, Chrysler is still around which is good.

I recently started reading the book about that, "Taken For a Ride: How Daimler-Benz Drove off With Chrysler". It started off with an attempted leveraged takeover of Chrysler by Kirk Kerkorian and Lee Iaccoca. Bob Eaton treated the deal as a hostile takeover so he was looking for alternatives.

I'm not that far into the book, but I recall that, at the time, Daimler-Benz was also making a ton of profit. They were worried that they may also become the target of a leveraged buyout by a private equity firm, so they wanted to buy Chrysler to become too big for anyone to be able to afford to buy them.

In a leveraged buyout, the purchaser borrows a lot of the money to buy the company, then uses the company's own cash reserves and/or sells off non-core assets to pay off the loan.

 

[Carmine]

Daimler first approached Ford, who rebuffed them. Then they found weakness in Eaton, plus a willingness to "sell" the idea to Chrysler shareholders as necessary going forward (like Sergio did) so it could done as a stock exchange. I believe Chrysler shareholders received $.62 on the dollar for DCX stock. When the deal was completed, Eaton announced his retirement.