Mike Manley was always seen as the obvious successor to Sergio Marchionne even though the leadership mantle was thrust upon him earlier than expected.

Marchionne was due to retire only in 2019 but the sudden turn of events over the last few weeks, when his health took a turn for the worse, prompted the FCA board to quickly announce Manley as the new CEO.

The 54-year-old has been a vital part of the group’s renewed drive in recent years as Head of the Jeep brand. In fact, it accounts for sales of nearly two million units annually and is growing from strength to strength.

Manley has been credited as the man behind this success story and will obviously be keen to keep Jeep’s momentum going. He will, of course, have to contend with a much larger role as CEO but this should not be an issue given that he has been a key part of the leadership team when Marchionne was at the helm of affairs.

Indian journalists got to interact with him during the 2016 Los Angeles Auto Show where he discussed Jeep’s prospects in India. The Compass was due to be launched in the following year and the fact that India was among four global manufacturing locations only put in perspective the bigger strategy.

“This is a very, very special vehicle for us. Not only is it our most global vehicle but it also opens up a number of the markets where we have not been in,” he said. Whilst on the subject of Jeep, Manley was confident that it would do well in India which, though a price-sensitive market, “also responds well to new launches and new technologies”.

The Compass has been a huge success story in India and the challenge is to keep the momentum going. FCA also announced last month at its five-year strategic plan presentation that a new sub-four-metre SUV was planned for India. Manley had actually hinted at this possibility during the LA Auto Show.

“We have to make a true Jeep and the smaller we go on platform, the harder the dynamics are. We will need to ensure that is a proper Jeep and not something that is dressed up (as a Jeep). Therefore, we need to be very true to what Jeep stands for,” he had said.

Manley’s appointment to the top post augurs well for India though he will obviously have a lot more on his plate. After all, there are huge challenges ahead in the global automobile arena and he will need to ensure that FCA can hold its own comfortably.

Whether this will see an alliance with another global car-maker remains to be seen given that Marchionne was looking at teaming up with General Motors. More recently, there have been reports of Chinese auto-makers keen on acquiring Jeep. These will be interesting times for Manley as he steers FCA ahead.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW