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 Long-serving Montezemolo, a protégé of Fiat's founding Agnelli
family, will formally step down on Oct. 13, the day that Marchionne
plans to list the newly merged Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) in
New York, Fiat and Montezemolo said in separate statements.
Under Montezemolo's tenure, Ferrari raced to the front of the
Formula One grid, increased revenues tenfold and tripled sales
volumes, helping the Italian family business become one of the
world's most powerful brands.
But his relationship with Marchionne had soured in recent years
because of disagreements over the role of the luxury sports car
business within the Fiat group, people with knowledge of the
situation said.
Chairman since 1991, Montezemolo has wanted to keep Ferrari
autonomous, while Marchionne has pushed to better integrate the
business within Fiat to boost the group's move into the premium end
of the car market as it seeks to rival the likes of Volkswagen and
BMW.
Marchionne said on Wednesday that he and Montezemolo, who has been
tipped to become chairman of airline Alitalia, had discussed the
future of Ferrari at length.
"Our mutual desire to see Ferrari achieve its true potential on the
(Formula One racing) track has led to misunderstandings, which
became clearly visible over the last weekend," he said, referring to
the lack of a Ferrari driver in the top three at an Italian Grand
Prix for the first time since 2008.
For Montezemolo, meanwhile, the Chrysler marriage clearly played its
part.
"This is the end of an era and so I have decided to leave my
position as chairman after almost 23 marvelous and unforgettable
years," he said.
"Ferrari will have an important role to play within the FCA group in
the upcoming flotation on Wall Street. This will open up a new and
different phase, which I feel should be spearheaded by the CEO of
the group."
A note from UBS analysts said that Montezemolo, 67, had become
"increasingly marginalized as he had been opposed to the takeover of
Chrysler back in 2009 ... the last straw was probably a disagreement
with Fiat about future growth".
INVESTOR APPEAL
Marchionne, who has been running Fiat since 2004 and revived its
fortunes through the tie-up with Chrysler, now wants to flash the
Ferrari card to attract U.S. investors when the group makes its
debut on Wall Street.
Fiat shares rose 2.6 percent to 7.89 euros by 0641 EDT on Wednesday,
with the market speculating that Montezemolo's exit could open the
door for a spin-off and listing of Ferrari, a move Marchionne has
repeatedly ruled out. Analysts value Ferrari at 4-5 billion euros
($5.17 billion to $6.47 billion)
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Montezemolo was a protégé of Fiat patriarch Gianni Agnelli and
became Ferrari's sporting director at the age of 26, helping its
driver Niki Lauda to two of his three world titles.
However, Ferrari have not won a drivers' or constructors' title
since 2008 and Marchionne said on Sunday that the team's performance
was "unacceptable" in what was widely seen as a public sacking of
Montezemolo.
Insiders said there was never any love lost between the two
exuberant businessmen, each powerful in his own right. But their
differences became more apparent in recent months as Fiat completed
its buyout of Chrysler and prepared to move its headquarters away
from Italy, the carmaker's home for the past 115 years.
Though he was reappointed Ferrari chairman in March, Montezemolo did
not travel to Detroit in May when Fiat presented an ambitious
business plan for the next five years. He was also excluded from the
board of the new FCA.
Montezemolo, however, leaves with much of the credit for having
rebuilt the Formula One team after Enzo Ferrari’s death in 1988, his
hiring of Jean Todt as principal leading to the arrival of Michael
Schumacher and a string of successive constructors’ and drivers’
titles between 1999 and 2004. Schumacher’s 2000 success ended a
21-year-wait for a Ferrari champion.
Ferrari, which sells about 7,000 cars a year, made a record 2.34
billion euros in revenue last year with an operating profit margin
of 15.6 percent.
Fiat owns 90 percent of Ferrari, with the remaining 10 percent held
by Piero Ferrari, the group's vice chairman and son of the
carmaker's founder Enzo Ferrari.
(1 US dollar = 0.7735 euro)
(Additional reporting by Alan Baldwin and Stephen Jewkes; Editing by
Silvia Aloisi and David Goodman)
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