Mike Manley Chosen As Fiat Chrysler CEO: Report [UPDATED]

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

While the automaker hasn’t made anything official, sources tell Automotive News Europe that Jeep and Ram brand boss Mike Manley is Fiat Chrysler’s chosen successor to the ailing Sergio Marchionne.

The report follows this morning’s news that Marchionne has experienced complications from shoulder surgery, and that the boards of FCA, Ferrari, and CNH Industrial have reportedly assembled to replace him as CEO by end of day Saturday.

Update: Fiat Chrysler has confirmed the change via a press release. Mike Manley has been named CEO by the board of directors, and the board will propose that he be elected to the board and executive director of the company at a forthcoming shareholder meeting. The board has granted Manley the full powers of CEO in the interim. — Managing Ed.

Manley, 54, took the helm of Jeep in 2009, adding Ram to his purview in 2015. He was appointed to the automaker’s Group Executive Council in 2011 and joined FCA’s board of directors in 2014.

Given that Jeep and Ram are by far FCA’s largest breadwinners, the British-born Manley was seen as the most likely candidate to replace Marchionne. According to Automotive News Europe, Manley was appointed CEO at an emergency meeting chaired by FCA chairman and controlling shareholder John Elkann. The meeting took place at the automaker’s Turin headquarters.

Manley rose through the ranks after joining the company as director of network development for DaimlerChrysler United Kingdom back in 2000.

We’ll bring you more information as this story develops.

[Image: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • JohnTaurus JohnTaurus on Jul 21, 2018

    QOTD for next week: what would you do with FCA? Or has that been done already? It sounds somewhat familiar, but I can't remember exactly.

  • Inside Looking Out Inside Looking Out on Jul 21, 2018

    What will happen with Lancia now? I hope Sergio recovers, but what I am reading does not sound good. I do not think FCA is in good shape either.

  • Hamilton Guy Hamilton Guy on Jul 22, 2018

    "the board will propose that he be elected to the board and executive director of the company at a forthcoming shareholder meeting." The CEO on the Board? That's really bad corporate governance (and I am on 2 Boards of Directors, chair of one). The CEO is the sole employee of the Board of Directors. No way he should be on the Board.

  • Ect Ect on Jul 22, 2018

    Hamilton Guy, it's typical for the CEO to be on the Board. The big governance debate has been about having the same person be both CEO and Chairman. In Canada, they are most often separate posts held by different people. In US public companies, it seems to me to be almost universal practice that the CEO is also the Chairman - which is very bad governance, but very good for the CEO.

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