New Fiat Chrysler CEO, Mike Manley’s Top Five Priorities
Photo Credit/Copyright: freep.com
Newly appointed Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO, Mike Manley has some big shoes to fill. Following the sudden death of his predecessor, Sergio Marchionne, Manley inherits a much cleaner “house” but it’s far from spotless. Marchionne, who sadly passed away on July 25th due to complications during an invasive shoulder operation, left behind a legacy and that will forever impact the automobile industry. He single-handedly saved not one, but two failing companies from near bankruptcy by combining them and creating the seventh-largest automaker in the world, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA).
Due to his impressive track record at Jeep®, where he oversaw a successful turnaround of fortunes, Mike Manley was a natural choice as Marchionne’s successor. While also handling key assignments for Marchionne, Manley was also the Jeep brand’s head since 2009, and led a global expansion to establish manufacturing operations in China from 2011-2017. Although his future as CEO looks promising, as he will likely adopt similar leadership style and organisational structure to Marchionne – today he must take into consideration some immediate priorities.
Working With The Family
For starters, one of his biggest and likely toughest priorities for Manley will be to develop the organization, while preserving traditions. In order to successfully do this, he will have to work incredibly hard in incorporating business with the family. As Marchionne once said, “Don’t do anything specifically for the family and don’t do anything without them.” Due to the amount of support Marchionne received from the Agnelli family, this allowed for him to lay a foundation for stability and openness of the company’s shareholder structure.
Acquisition
Marchionne was a big believer that only a certain amount of automotive companies would succeed in the industry of electric and autonomous vehicles. In order for this to happen, it depended largely on the merge, and potential buyout, between FCA and bigger automobile companies. The most recent and rumored suitor was the Hyundai Motor Company. This came after there was supposed interest from Chinese automakers. Manley must accelerate the push for FCA to begin electric vehicle development – however, the real question is, will Manley consider this a priority without Marchionne? Only time will tell…
Jeep and Ram
As previously mentioned, Manley was the Jeep brand head since 2009. One of his biggest tasks will be to improve the quality among Jeep and Ram vehicles. It will be up to Manley to implement a company-wide electrification program within those two brands, along with Alfa Romeo, Maserati, and Dodge. In order to do this, Manley will also need to choose a successor to lead Jeep and Ram as Marchionne entrusted him to do for the last three years. Top lieutenant of Jeep and rumored successor of Manley, Jim Morrison, will assist in running Ram’s North American operations.
Wall Street
A former accountant, Marchionne was very much respected among wall street analysts. During his time at FCA, the company’s shares more than doubled since its debut in 2014 at $9 a share – it reached its high in January at $25 a share and closed at $19.32 respectively. In order to maintain stability and ensure wall street that FCA is in good hands, Manley will likely enlist the help of CFO Richard Palmer. FCA executives considered Marchionne the glue that held the company together, especially in a complex group of executives.
United Automobile Workers Negotiations
It was no secret that Marchionne was known to be a shrewd negotiator who also maintained a respectful relationship with the union and its leaders – specifically UAW President Dennis Williams. The future of Williams and Manley’s relationship is uncertain. Additionally, It will be up to Manley to decide how much involvement he will partake in and if that will include the 2019 negotiations with the UAW, which is set to welcome a slate of new leaders that same year.
* The FCA Group will be going through several transitions within the next few months, especially since this succession wasn’t expected to take place until 2019. Nonetheless, consumers can still enjoy the lineup that’s already available. Visit the Miami Lakes Automall located in Miami Lakes, FL and test drive one of our available 2018 Chrysler vehicles . Visit our website for more information on our entire new car inventory selection . *
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