The 12 October 2014 the birth of the FCA Group, the result of the merger between Fiat SpA and Chrysler Group LLC. The automotive group is now defunct, absorbed by Stellantis; but then the operation of Sergio Marchionne had the merit of polarizing all the attention of the sector towards a solid company formed through the management of two small automobile agglomerations with no future. Chrysler had risked closure, as had happened to Fiat at the beginning of the 2000s: saving both and relaunching them was undoubtedly a mammoth commitment on the part of the management team led by Marchionne, who did not survive long enough to attend the end of FCA’s very short period of activity (six years and a little more).
The next day, 13 October 2014, Marchionne and John Elkann went to ring the Wall Street bell to begin FCA’s stock operations. A choice, at the turn of Columbus Day, which on closer inspection once again connected the caravels of Christopher Columbus (Italy by Fiat) with the American continent (Chrysler). Perhaps Marchionne had not come to plan all this; but many were under the impression that a random day had not been chosen to ‘land’ on the stock market.
On 13 October Sergio Marchionne also became President of Ferrari, succeeding the resigning Luca Cordero di Montezemolo. A truly incredible week for the manager. After the bell rang in New York, John Elkann said, “It is a historic moment. Starting from the foundations and aspirations of Fiat and Chrysler, a completely new phase is opening today, which will allow us to face the future of the global automotive sector as protagonists. This is a great challenge that we are ready to take up with determination. I am proud, and the whole family is. There is great pride in bringing Fiat into a wider context, I would never have dreamed of it when we started working together 10 years ago.“. In hindsight, the merger into FCA ensured the survival of the entire Fiat universe, more than was expected on the basis of car sales estimates.