Fiat Chrysler CEO 100% Sure Carmaker Can Survive Tech Disruption

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV is a house of brands and that ensures it will be one of the few traditional automakers to survive the disruption the car industry is facing from the rise of electric and self-driving cars, according to Chief Executive Officer Mike Manley. Manley’s vision, like that of his iconic predecessor Sergio Marchionne, is based on the view that distinctive brands such as Jeep, Alfa Romeo and Maserati give the Italian-American company an advantage over mass volume producers.
Manley, 55, who succeeded Marchionne in July a few days before he died, is under pressure to deliver a turnaround of the carmaker’s unprofitable Asia business and revamp its European one amid massive investments needed to guide Fiat-Chrysler into the era of self-driving electric cars and new mobility services. I’m 100 percent sure that Fiat Chrysler will be able to survive because we are fundamentally a house of brands, Manley said in an interview last month at the company’s Turin headquarters for a new biography of Marchionne.