autoevolution
 

Marchionne: We'll Fight Like Hell

The economic crisis came under threat today, as Fiat CEO, Sergio Marchionne, said his company will “fight like hell” to make money this year, Autonews reported. The Italian official also criticized his fellow automotive industry bosses because they gave in and admitted their companies will lose cash this year.

“I think the first duty of a leader is to keep his company in the black. To accept and announce, at the beginning of the year that you will lose money is the worst sign of leadership you could give to your troops,” Marchionne said.

It is not hard for anyone to see that Fiat's CEO does have a point. Despite the fact that all know thinks are not at all what they should be, these alarmist statements made by the management not only do not help, but hurts employee moral and slows recovery. A good example of this fact is Bob Lutz's comments made at the Geneva Show about the struggling Swedish companies Saab and Volvo.

Last week, in an interview at the 2009 Geneva Auto Show, the manager emphasized his ideas by admitting "car markets have gone from bad to horrible so far this year, but I will fight like hell to keep Fiat Group Automobiles profitable in 2009.”

To achieve this, Marchionne thinks his company should shift its attention from the long term goals and focus on the short term one, that is to remain profitable and save cash. Fiat is cutting cost wherever it can, by canceling new models or slashing marketing and travel expenses.

On January 22nd, Fiat posted its 2008 financial results and said then it plans on selling 1.9 million units worldwide this year, a figure that now seems to be too optimistic. The company's trading profit increased by 4.3 percent, yet its net profit dropped by 16.2 percent.
If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
About the author: Daniel Patrascu
Daniel Patrascu profile photo

Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
Full profile

 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories