A storm is brewing over the relationship between Ferrari boss Luca Cordero di Montezemolo and the firm’s parent company Fiat and CEO Sergio Marchionne, with a report claiming that the former is one-step away from leaving the company.
Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported Monday that Montezemolo, who has been at the helm of Ferrari for more than two decades, is set to leave the Italian supercar maker after fighting with Marchionne over his strategy for the brand.
The Fiat CEO wants to increase Ferrari’s sales while Montezemolo’s plan is to keep annual production levels capped at 7,000 units to increase exclusivity. Even though it sold only about 7,000 cars last year, Ferrari, which is 90-percent owned by Fiat, accounted for around 12 percent of the Italian group’s 2013 operating profit from total vehicle sales of 4.4 million units.
At this past weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, Montezemolo addressed rumors that he would leave Ferrari by saying that he plans to stay.
“We are preparing a historic record at the end of this year in terms of financial and economic results,” he said according to Crash. “Ferrari is facing a fantastic moment. So that’s it. If and when there will be some news about me, I will be the first – I emphasize the first – to let you know.”
The last statement didn’t sit well with Marchionne who responded saying “Nobody is indispensable”.
“We are good friends but his statements, these are things I wouldn’t have said myself,” Marchionne said.
“On volume and economic results Luca has done an outstanding job. I [also] consider myself essential, of course. But I also know very well that I am at the service of this company. So to create positions, illusions that one can operate outside the rules, is talking rubbish It’s the same for him as it is for me; we serve the company. When the company has a change of plan, or if there is no longer a convergence of ideas, things change,” said Marchionne.
Il Corriere della Sera reported Monday that Montezemolo told close associates (who we gather are either not so close to keep these statements a secret or close enough to convey them to the press…) that “Ferrari is now American” and this represents “the end of an era”.
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