Fiat Chrysler chooses Jeep exec Manley to replace ailing CEO

ROME - Jeep executive Mike Manley will be the new CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobile after longtime leader Sergio Marchionne’s health suddenly deteriorated following surgery, the company announced Saturday.

Marchionne, a 66-year-old Italian-Canadian, joined Fiat in 2004 and led the Turin-based company’s merger with bankrupt U.S. carmaker Chrysler. Manley, 54, had been heading the Jeep brand since June 2009 and the Ram brand from October 2015 and has been with the company since 2000.

The announcement, at the end of an emergency board meeting Saturday, marked the end of the Marchionne era, which included the turnaround of failing Fiat, the takeover of bankrupt U.S. automaker Chrysler and the spinoffs of the heavy machinery and truck maker CNH and supercar maker Ferrari.

Marchionne, who is also a lawyer, was holding multiple leadership roles in the companies, notably as CEO of FCA - Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, as well as CEO and chairman of Ferrari. Fiat Chrysler said in a statement that due to his health Marchionne “will be unable to return to work.” Marchionne had already announced he would step down from FCA in early 2019.

Ferrari announced that Louis Camilleri, an Egypt-born Maltese and longtime executive at tobacco company Philip Morris International, would replace Marchionne as CEO of the sports car maker.

The England-born Manley had been one of Marchionne’s closest collaborators at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.