Sergio For President: One More Year

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Despite previous calls for his ouster, Fiat’s CEO Sergio Marchionne was elected for another year as president of the influential European auto trade group ACEA, Reuters reports. In July, Volkswagen demanded Marchionne’s head after he had accused Volkswagen of exploiting the European crisis to gain market share by offering aggressive discounts.

“Marchionne is unbearable as president of ACEA,” Volkswagen communications chief Stephan Grühsem told Reuters in July. “In our view, his comments are unqualified yet again. We’re therefore calling on him to step down.” Volkswagen threatened to “exit from the manufacturers association.”

Volkswagen and Fiat made up at the Paris auto show in September, and Marchionne stayed on. The rotating presidency of the carmaker club is shared by French, Italian and German automobile manufacturers. Members Toyota and Hyundai, which were accepted very reluctantly, stand no chance. Presidents rule one or two years.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Dimwit Dimwit on Dec 07, 2012

    I'm quite sure that him giving the gears to VW rewon him the job. Everyone else but VW is tired of their actions and their BSD attitude. They'd like to have VW in the dirt, a little bit at least, to feel the pain everyone else is being subjected to.

    • Tatracitroensaab Tatracitroensaab on Dec 07, 2012

      Lol people hate the winner. VW and the German luxurymakers are the best in the industry. Opel and PSA don't stand a chance, and everyone else is going to have to work a lot harder, especially once VW gets the modular architecture all going

  • Grzydj Grzydj on Dec 07, 2012

    Great, this will give ol' Sweet Pete from Autoextremist.com something to rail on and on about for years to come, even though he says he has no bias/hatred against Chrysler. His vitriolic remarks about anything Fiat or Chrysler related tells another narrative.

    • Asdf Asdf on Dec 07, 2012

      Funny thing is, just a few years ago Sweet Pete used to bash Ferdinand Piëch regularly. Not so anymore, now Volkswagen and (especially) Audi are showered with praise, and *Marchionne* has become the new target of his regular bashing. Sweet Pete being on the Wolfsburg payroll would of course explain this, but that's not likely to be the case, is it? So what happened to him?

  • Geekcarlover Geekcarlover on Dec 07, 2012

    So Sergio wants VW to sell cars at max price during an economic downturn? Discounts and rebates are a normal part of the car industry. Or is this some weird EU rule?

  • Buickman Buickman on Dec 07, 2012

    persistent fella, though there wouldn't be a FIAT without Red Ink Rick's cash contribution. hard working as the dude is, a little humble pie would make for a favorable dietary supplement.

    • Athos Nobile Athos Nobile on Dec 08, 2012

      ^^^ This. And with this economy, Fiat would be dead without Chrysler's money. So the guys at Auburn Hills are bailing out yet another Euro car maker.

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