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Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne, AID FOR ALL OR FOR NO ONE

By Amarendra Bhushan for CEOWORLD Magazine Updated:November 19, 2008

Fiat Group CEO Sergio Marchionne on Wednesday warned that a bailout of the big three carmakers in the U.S. would distort competition across the ailing auto industry.

Marchionne appealed for a fair playing field for the automaking industry as Detroit’s Big Three — Ford, General Motors and Chrysler — asked for a U.S. government bailout to survive the global financial slowdown that has slashed demand for new cars.

“We need to avoid interference that would change the industrial equilibrium of the markets. That is something Fiat cannot accept,” Marchionne told a gathering of regional industrialists in Turin.

Aid to U.S. automakers “would change the balance in Europe. It is a question we are following with attention,” he said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is considering whether to offer euro1 billion ($1.27 billion) in loan guarantees to the GM subsidiary Opel, voiced similar concerns during a meeting with Premier Silvio Berlusconi Tuesday in the northern city of Trieste.

Marchionne emphasized that Fiat has not asked for any government aid and that the Italian automaker, which is also the nation’s largest industrial concern, doesn’t need “the same kind of support as the Americans.”

Sergio Marchionne

Born in Chieti in 1952, he has dual Canadian and Italian citizenship. He is a barrister, solicitor and chartered accountant. He began his professional career in Canada. From 1983 to 1985, he worked as an accountant and tax specialist for Deloitte & Touche. From 1985 to 1988, he was Group Controller and then Director of Corporate Development at the Lawson Mardon Group of Toronto. In 1989 and 1990, he held the position as Executive Vice President of Glenex Industries.

From 1990 to 1992, he was Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer at Acklands Ltd. From 1992 to 1994, also in Toronto, he held the position of Vice President of Legal and Corporate Development and Chief Financial Officer of the Lawson Group, which was acquired by Alusuisse Lonza (Algroup) in 1994.
Between 1994 and 2000, he covered various positions of increasing responsibility at Algroup, headquartered in Zurich, until becoming Chief Executive Officer. He then went on to head the Lonza Group Ltd, following its demerger from Algroup, first as Chief Executive Officer (2000-2001) and then as Chairman (2002).

In February 2002, he became Chief Executive Officer of the SGS Group of Geneva, a world leader in the area of inspection, verification, testing and certification services. In March 2006, he was appointed Chairman of the company, a position which he continues to hold. In 2008, he was appointed non-executive Vice Chairman and Senior Independent Director of UBS.

He is also a member of the Board of Philip Morris International Inc. and a member of the General Council of Confindustria, of Assonime (the association
of Italian corporates), of Unione Industriale di Torino (Employers’ Association of Turin) and of ACEA (European Automobile Manufacturers Association).
He is a permanent member of the Fondazione Giovanni Agnelli.

He has been a Member of the Board of Fiat S.p.A. since May 2003 and was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Company on June 1, 2004. In February 2005, he was also appointed Chief Executive Officer of Fiat Group Automobiles and in April 2006 Chairman of CNH Case New Holland, the Group company operating in the agricultural and construction equipment business. Mr. Marchionne is a recipient of: an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Windsor, a degree in Economics honoris causa from the University of Cassino, a Master’s degree honoris causa from the CUOA Foundation and a degree ad honorem in Industrial Engineering and Management from Polytechnic University in Turin. Mr. Marchionne also holds the honour of Cavaliere del Lavoro.

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