Luca di Montezemolo Officially Resigns as Fiat Chairman

Fiat issued a press release today announcing that Luca Cordero di Montezemolo will resign from his position of Fiat group chairman. He will announce the resignation personally, during a press conference that will be held later this afternoon. The press conference will be attended by the vice chairman of Fiat, John Elkann, tipped to succeed di Montezemolo, and by the CEO Sergio Marchionne.

“Luca Cordero di Montezemolo explained that the reason for his resignation, on the eve of the presentation of the Group’s 2010-2014 Business Plan, was that he had completed the assignment given to him by the core shareholder in May 2004”, reads the press release. The statement adds that Luca Cordero di Montezemolo will remain a member of the Fiat board of directors and chairman of Ferrari.

The move was announced a few hours earlier by the Automotive News Europe, which cited sources from within the company. These unnamed sources stated that Luca di Montezemolo was unhappy with the 5-year business plan that Marchionne is to officially announce tomorrow. Another speculation is that Montezemolo plans to enter politics in Italy.

John Elkann is currently chairman of Exor S.p.A., the Agnelli family holding company which controls 30 percent of Fiat, Italy’s largest automaker. Elkann is the grandson of Giovanni Agnelli, former Fiat chairman, who designated him as successor at the time of his death, in 2003. Elkann is the man who brought accountant and lawyer Sergio Marchionne at the helm of Fiat Group.

Montezemolo, 62, became Fiat group chairman in 2004. He has occupied a number of positions in the Fiat empire since joining Ferrari in 1973 as manager of the Formula 1 team.