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Ferrari chair steps down after F1 failure

Luca Cordero di Montezemolo resigns after 23 years at the helm of super-car maker

Ferrari’s chairman Luca di Montezemolo at the paddock during the third practice session at the Formula One circuit in Monza, Italy, 06 September 2014. Di Montezemolo is to step down as chairman of the Formula 1 team. His departure follows a poor season on the track and disagreements with Sergio Marchionne, chief executive officer of parent company Fiat. Photograph: SRDJAN SUKI/EPA

Wed Sep 10 2014 - 20:45

Ferrari chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo has resigned after 23 years at the helm of the super-car maker because of a clash over strategy with Sergio Marchionne, chief executive officer of parent Fiat.

Montezemolo, 67, will step down effective October 13th, Turin, Italy-based Fiat said today in a statement. Marchionne, who had publicly expressed disappointment with Ferrari’s Formula One performance, will take charge of the unit.

Discussions over Ferrari’s future and its racing potential “led to misunderstandings which became clearly visible over the last weekend,” Marchionne said in the statement. “I want to thank Luca for all he has done for Fiat, for Ferrari and for me personally.”

The Formula One spat masked deeper divides over the future of Ferrari's role in the group. The Maranello-based company, which is 90 per cent-owned by Fiat, is a key component of Marchionne's plans to expand in luxury cars to better compete with Volkswagen AG, which owns Lamborghini among its stable of high-end nameplates.

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Fiat shares rose as much as 3 per cent to €7.93 and were up 2.2 per cent at 9:44 a.m. in Milan trading. The stock has gained 33 per cent this year, valuing the company at €9.87 billion.

Montezemolo, who took charge of Ferrari in 1991, wanted to maintain Ferrari's autonomous status, including capping sales to about 7,000 cars a year to preserve the brand's exclusive allure. That clashed with Marchionne's goal of having Ferrari bolster a shift by the group into upscale cars as part of Fiat's merger with U.S. unit Chrysler Group. Montezemolo, who also served as Fiat's chairman from 2004 to 2010, teamed up with Marchionne after his appointment a decade ago to revive the carmaker from the brink of bankruptcy. The Ferrari chief wasn't appointed to the new board of the merged entity, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Tensions between Marchionne and Montezemolo were evident last weekend, when the Fiat CEO criticised the recent performance of Ferrari's Formula One team as "unacceptable."

He also took issue with comments from Montezemolo offering to continue running the brand, adding that “nobody is indispensable.” During Montezemolo’s tenure, the super-car brand boosted revenue 10-fold as sales more than tripled.

Ferrari's racing team won the Formula One championship in 2000 after a 21-year drought, and then took five consecutive titles under driver Michael Schumacher. The last winning season was in 2008, when it took the award for the top team.

Bloomberg

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