If our country weren't suffocated by the conformism of the obvious and the ephemeral, by the tyranny of fake news and the daily nonsense of the Five Stars and the League, it would have much to meditate on the considerations developed by the CEO of Fiat Chrysler, Sergio Marchionne in the his Lectio magistralis on the occasion of the awarding of the honorary degree in Mechatronic Engineering from the University of Trento (the full text of which is attached).
Marchionne, as is his habit, goes straight to the point and argues bluntly that the car is on the eve of a "disruptive change that will undermine the usual paradigms" and that "we are on the threshold of the greatest revolution in the world of transport, at least since the automobile replaced horses and carriages”. And he confesses that he doesn't have a crystal ball but that he is clear that the electric car and the self-driving car will be "the most significant technological changes we will see in the near future". On both fronts, not knowing what will become of the car in 10 or 20 years, Marchionne makes good use of pragmatism, keeps all solutions open but never misses an opportunity to raise doubts and questions: on the electric car as well as the self-driving car but also the mass-produced car, which will increasingly become a commodity in the era of car sharing, as opposed to the Premium segment and strongly identifying brands.
It is evident that Marchionne's analysis is not neutral and that, although speaking in an academic place, it is not purely theoretical but reflects the strategic propensities that FCA harbors within it, with an eye both on a great alliance and on strengthening the pole of luxury around Ferrari with the spin-off of Alfa and Maserati. But that doesn't make it less interesting, even if he highlights the absolute absence of political and trade union forces in these areas, with very rare exceptions.
Marchionne does not hide his doubts about the electric car and considers it a "double-edged sword" both in terms of costs and its environmental impact. "The truth - he says - is that for every electric 500 we sell in the United States, we lose about 20 thousand dollars: an operation which, done on a large scale, becomes an act of extreme economic masochism". As for the environmental impact, "the emissions of an electric car, when the energy is produced from fossil fuels, are at best equivalent to a petrol car".
Marchionne's approach to self-driving cars is also pragmatic, a bit evolutionary and a bit revolutionary because in reality "no one knows exactly when the first self-driving cars will appear and how quickly they will spread". Probably this will happen "within a decade" but "the trouble of our time - the head of FCA wittily recalls, quoting the poet Paul Valery - is that the future is no longer what it used to be".
What is certain - adds Marchionne - is that electric propulsion and autonomous driving will revolutionize the automotive world and that - here is the crucial point - "the engine will no longer be a distinctive element" while new protagonists will appear, such as the giants of Silicon Valley and not only that, which will throw traditional manufacturers into an identity crisis. Faced with this radical change "there are only a few brands, very strong and highly specialized, which will remain unaffected or will be only partially affected by this revolution". Marchionne has four names in mind and does not hide them: Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Jeep and Ferrari. On the contrary – here is the other essential point – “in the mass market the brand will no longer be so important”.
“Today more than ever – concludes the CEO of FCA – we must remain open to everything. Even to invent ourselves from scratch”. But where the heart beats and what are Marchionne's strategic propensities can be read against the light: an international alliance for FCA and a luxury hub around Ferrari. It is clear that the game has become global but it is not irrelevant to understand what role the Italian car industry will be able to play.
Is Marchionne right to say that engines and brands (except specialized ones) will no longer have the weight they once did and to raise questions about electric cars and self-driving cars? What do the political forces and trade union forces think? Fortunately parties and unions are not all the same but asking Salvini or Camusso would probably be a waste of time. Not so for Di Maio: an algorithm is always ready to answer for the premier candidate of the 5 Star Movement. From the car without a driver to the politician without a thought, the step is short.
Attachments: Lectio Magistralis Marchionne
