di Montezemolo gone at Ferrari

Luca Cordero di Montezemolo

Luca Cordero di Montezemolo resigned from his post as Chairman of Ferrari after clashing with Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne, saying that "Ferrari is now American, which represents an end of an era." Now, truth be told, if it weren't for the american buyers over the past decades, Ferrari would not be what it is today. However, I believe this fact has been cleverly used by Mr. Marchionne to hijack one of the best car brands in the world.

Montezemolo was appointed as President of Ferrari by Fiat Chairman Gianni Agnelli back in 1991 as the company struggled following the death of Enzo Ferrari in 1988. Under his guidance, the Scuderia Ferrari started winning again, this after a 21-year cold streak, while the road going division was transformed into a sale success. The Ferrari Formula One team (Scuderia Ferrari) won five consecutive titles under driver Michael Schumacher while the brand's revenue shot up 10 fold and sales more than tripled.

Now, I am the first one to admit that no one person is indispensable but Luca Cordero di Montezemolo has done a terrific job in the last 23 years at the helm of Ferrari and I doubt that this can be replicated. Just last weekend a record of 1000 Ferraris took over the streets of Beverly Hills in a celebration of the introduction of the F60 America. And this huge following was not created overnight by Mr. Marchionne.

Thanks for reading.

Source: Jalopnik.