For Fiat Chrysler Automobiles the X hour is about to arrive. On Friday Sergio Marchionne, the volcanic CEO of the automotive group which he took over ten years ago in a state of semi-bankruptcy and made it the world's seventh largest automotive group, will raise the curtain on the new strategic plan. The event, long awaited by the markets but also by workers and the Italian system, will take place tomorrow morning at the Cascina Bella Luigina di Balocco near Vercelli.
There are many questions awaiting answers. Who will be Marchionne's successor who has repeatedly confirmed that he will leave the group in mid-2019? What will be the strategic lines of the new plan? What will happen to the Italian plants? What new products will FCA focus on? Will Alfa and Maserati be spun off and join Ferrari in the luxury pole or not?
But before these questions there is another that conditions the implementation of the same plan, namely: will Marchionne be able or not to hand over the debt-free FCA to his successor? The cancellation of the debt, which has long been the ballast of the group, is the premise for realizing the new plan. Tomorrow it will be known whether or not the automaker will be able to clear the residual 1.300 million of debt still weighing on the group by the end of June. In recent times Marchionne has made sparks to achieve the goal by reducing the industrial debt of the house at a rate of 90 million a week. If, as is probable, the no-debt goal is achieved, the president of Exor, John Elkann, who controls FCA, will give Marchionne the blue tie he had promised his top manager at the last meeting if the CEO won the bet .
The fact that the FCA share gained 4% on the Stock Exchange on Wednesday and that today, Thursday, the share continues to rise (around 2% at 11:00) suggests that Marchionne made it even if the victory and the Elkann's tie will force him to change his look and put on a tie. But debt relief is worth a jumper.
