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nticipation hovers over the crowd at Maranello Fiat’s grand opening celebration. Guests mingle, sip spirits and ogle the new 500s occupying the showroom floor. But it’s not a car this party is waiting for – it’s the man who saved Fiat, who reintroduced the beloved 500 to the world, that’s on their minds. And as he’s ushered through the doors of Fiat’s Canadian flagship dealer, the crowd’s response says it all: Sergio Marchionne has arrived. CEO of Fiat S.p.A and Chrysler Group LLC, Marchionne is the biggest name in the automotive world today. Heading Italy’s largest industrial empire, he has plucked both companies from the precipice of death, transforming these once-hemorrhaging enterprises back into serious players. “There was certainly risk involved in taking on Chrysler,” Marchionne says of the American automotive company that Fiat acquired in 2009. But with risk comes reward. As Marchionne explains, each brand has its strong suit. Fiat, with its smaller, fuel-efficient cars, and Chrysler, its strength in mediumto-large vehicles, the match was made in automobile heaven. “What we saw was an incredible opportunity to bring Fiat and Chrysler together to achieve the critical mass necessary to produce large economies of scale to justify the enormous levels of investment required by the automotive business,” says the Italian-born 59-year-old who spent his younger years living in Canada. With cameras flashing and a swarming crowd that includes Dragons’ Den star Robert Herjavec, Marchionne, uniformed in his trademark black sweater over a collard shirt, stands calmly between a classic 500 and its modern kin. After a brief window for media to photograph him alongside Remo Ferri, president of Remo Ferri Group of Automobiles, and Reid Bigland, president and CEO of Chrysler Canada, he begins to move towards the stage. But Marchionne can barely take a step without a handshake thrust towards him or a plea for a quick snapshot.
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“I BELIEVE THE ESSENCE OF LEADERSHIP IS ASSUMPTION OF THE MORAL DUTY TO TAKE AN ACTIVE PART IN BUILDING THE FUTURE OF THE ORGANIZATION AND OF SOCIETY AS A WHOLE.” - Sergio Marchionne
A local reporter attempts to get a word with Marchionne amidst a swarming crowd. Michael Latifi, president of Sofina Foods Inc., Remo Ferri, president of the Remo Ferri Group of Automobiles, Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat and Chrysler, and Marc Muzzo of Muzzo Brothers Group Inc.
City Life Magazine Apr/May 2012
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