Sergio Marchionne To Step Down As FCA CEO In 2018

As they say we live in interesting times. It will be interesting to see what becomes of FCA under new leadership.

Wow, that's a long retirement party. There are vehicles that haven't even been released yet that will likely go through a refresh before he steps down.

Not sure that I'm happy about this, at this point in time Chrysler and Dodge would be at the top of my list if I were in the market for a new car simply because they offer the type of products I want (V8 RWD)  and honestly if it were not for Fiat and especially Marchionne's leadership I doubt Chrysler or Dodge would even exist at this point.  With that being said there are some things that concern me, which are mainly the direction Jeep is heading in, Renegade is sure to be a hit and I do like it for what it is, but the Cherokee is just a total miss for me, call me crazy but the XJ Cherokee was almost as iconic as the Wrangler and this new Cherokee is nothing like that.  It leaves doubt in my mind about the future of Wrangler and even the Grand Cherokee as to what they will do to them.  The next Wrangler has alot riding on it and will be a put up or shut up moment for alot of people. 

As for Chrysler itself, while the new 200 is light years better than the previous model, the sort of bland cookie cutter styling leaves a little something to be desired and makes me wonder what the future holds for the 300 and whether it will become another cab forward design and lose its cool factor, and also whether it will move downmarket.  I feel Chrysler should actually be aiming a little more upmarket and especially could push the 300 up with some really great styling and luxury content.   Even though historically Chrysler was never considered true luxury like Cadillac or Lincoln, I think Chrysler could actually be taken more seriously whereas Lincoln is still stumbling to get any traction in it's comeback.

It will be interesting to see if he actually comes up with a long term plan for all the auto lines, or just what he does over the next 4 year wind down of his career.