Letter To Employees From John Elkann About Sergio Marchionne

Here is the text of the letter that John Elkann wrote to employees of FCA after the appointment of Mike Manley as new ceo of the company.

Ladies and gentlemen,

This is undoubtedly the most difficult letter I've ever written. It is with deep sadness that I must tell you that the conditions of our ceo, Sergio Marchionne, who recently underwent surgery, are unfortunately worsened in the last few hours and not allow him to return to the FCA. Over the past 14 years, first at Fiat, then by Chrysler and finally in FCA, Sergio was the best ceo that you could possibly want and, for me, a real mentor, a colleague and a dear friend. We met at one of the darkest moments in the history of Fiat and it was thanks to his intellect, his perseverance and his leadership if we were able to save the company.

Sergio has also created an incredible turnaround at Chrysler and, thanks to his courage in working on cultural integration between the two companies, has laid the groundwork for a better and safer future for us all. We will be eternally grateful to Sergio for results that failed to reach and for making possible what seemed impossible. But as he himself has said many times: "the true value of a leader is not measured by what he got during his career but from what gave. Not measured by results that reaches, but from what is able to leave after themselves ".

Marchionne before the operation, said: "I'll be out shortly", then hopes were blown away from our correspondent MAURIZIO CROSETTI Since our first meeting, when we spoke of the possibility to take the reins of Fiat, what really struck me about him, beyond the managerial skills and an uncommon intelligence, were his human qualities. Qualities that I saw in his eyes, in the way we do, in the ability to understand people. He taught us to have courage, to challenge the status quo, to break the mold and go beyond what we already know.

Always driven to learn, to grow and to aim high – often going beyond our own limitations – and has always been the first to get involved. The legacy he leaves us talks about what was really important to him: the pursuit of excellence, the idea that there is always room for improvement. His teachings, the exhortation to never accept anything passively, not to be satisfied with mere passing grade are now an integral part of our culture in FCA: a culture that encourages us to always raise the bar and against downgrading ever of mediocrity.

The definition that Sergio gave of the word leader is valid today than ever before. What really matters is the type of culture that a leader leave to those who come after him. The best way to judge is through what the organization does after him. This is just one of many examples of what Sergio was a true leader and very rare. Many years ago, we started working on a succession plan that would guarantee continuity and preserved the unique culture that lives in FCA.

Relying on a plan already defined, we are now anticipating the process and today the Board of Directors has appointed Mike Manley new Managing Director of FCA. Mike was one of the principal architects of the success of FCA and already has to his credit a long list of accomplishments and achievements. Under his leadership, the Jeep brand has experienced a period of deep transformation that has led to unprecedented growth, from a few hundred thousand units a year to several years of record sales, the last four of them surpassing the million vehicles sold. Jeep has thus become not only one of the brands with the highest growth rate in the world but also the most profitable of the group. Over the years, Mike has held positions of increasing responsibility and has extensive management experience in all our regions, achieving important results in each of the positions filled and always showing great determination in achievement of its objectives.

I am sure that you all provide maximum support to Mike, working with him and with the leadership team to achieve the goals of the business plan 2018-2022 with the same commitment and the same integrity that guided us so far.