Well this is some surprising news indeed. The man that has helmed Ferrari for more than two decades, Luca di Montezemolo is stepping down, effective October 13th. Sadly, and despite his age of 67, this doesn’t seem to be a simple retirement; there has been some serious tension in the land of the Italian automobile lately.
Not only is Ferrari struggling in Formula One, but Montezemelo has been butting heads lately with Fiat head Sergio Marchionne. Not only is Marchionne upset with the Formula One disappointment, but he and Montezemelo are at opposite ends of the scale when it comes to the future of Ferrari.
Currently Montezemelo has capped Ferrari’s sales at 7,000 cars per year to bolster and maintain the company’s elite status. Marchionne, on the other hand, wants Ferrari to expand, become even more profitable, and to donate technology and engineering to other brands in the Fiat family with the goal of creating more luxurious models across the range. Marchionne wants the new Fiat/Chrysler to become a true competitor to Volkswagen.
According to a report from Bloomberg, Montezemelo has been quoted as saying that “Ferrari is now American,” going so far as to call it “the end of an era.” I hope he is wrong.
This is most disappointing, as Montezemelo has an astonishing record at Ferrari. Since he took over, company revenue has climbed by 1,000 percent, yearly auto sales have tripled, and after years and years of F1 failure, the Ferrari team secured eight World Constructors’ Championships.
Marchionne is anything but an idiot, but I do feel worried for the Ferrari brand as a whole. Montezemelo has obviously had some incredible success in running this prestigious brand, and it is upsetting to see him so unceremoniously forced out of the company that he helped thrust into such incredible success.
Click past the jump to read more about Luca di Montezemolo’s collaboration with Ferrari.
Luca di Montezemolo Steps Down as President of Ferrari originally appeared on topspeed.com on Wednesday, 10 September 2014 11:00 EST.
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