Right before the press conference, Fiat announced that Luca di Montezemolo will step down from the chairman position with Fiat, but will continue to serve as a board member and chairman of Ferrari S.p.A., and will be replaced by John Elkann, grandson of former Fiat chairman Giovanni Agnelli.
Sergio Marchionne took this opportunity at the press conference to underline his faith in Fiat’s new chairman John Elkann and the group’s five-year plan. "He and I ... have navigated the last six years together through some pretty shark-infested waters. Notwithstanding his young age (34), he has now reached the right level of seasoning and maturity to assume the role," said Marchionne quoted by Autonews.
In regard to Chrysler’s situation, Marchionne explained that further steps to raise the transparency around the company’s financial position are still needed, but criticized some of the media’s exaggerations over the matter.
"Much has been written in the last few months about Chrysler and its prospects for the future ... The financial analyst community has been particularly active in anticipation of today's event. And to be honest, some of the reports I have read, from what I used to consider intelligent and reasonable people, have taken on the tinge of boulevard press writings."
"The most benign interpretation is that they abused Albert Einstein's maxim that 'imagination is more important than knowledge.'"
"This disclosure process (on Chrysler accounts) is being instituted in the spirit of increasing the transparency around the company's financial position that has been a point of contention with stakeholders in the last few years."
Turning his attention to Fiat, Marchionne appeared very confident about the Italian company’s managerial team and the level of enthusiasm within it. "A team of leaders for whom courage has become a way of life. The team leading Fiat is a team of determined individuals who have embraced global competition as a challenge ... and who, like a hurdle runner, see obstacles as an opportunity to demonstrate their worth," continued Marchionne quoted by Autonews.
Regarding the industry’s recovery from the economic crisis, Marchionne said they were surprised by its depth and ramifications, but ended on a positive note revealing that a dire situation like this is also an opportunity for reconstruction.
"The shockwave it created hit the world so hard that only a war could have been more devastating. Our meltdown scenario ... a simulation which seemed completely unrealistic at the time, was later proved to have been too conservative. For a company, crisis can also bring out the best, like a period of reconstruction after a war," concluded Fiat-Chrysler’s CEO.
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