The Detroit News (Traverse City, US) - Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said Wednesday he plans to stay on the job until at least 2015, and said an IPO is not likely before 2013.
"It's unlikely," Marchionne said, suggesting it wouldn't happen before January 2013.
He also doesn't think U.S. industry auto sales will hit 13 million vehicles amid concerns about the strength of the U.S. economy, called electric vehicles "overhyped," said he hoped to build Alfa-Romeos in the U.S. by next year, and said the Auburn Hills automaker would assemble vehicles in China again before 2014.
At the Center for Automotive Research's Management Briefing Seminars, Marchionne -- who also runs Fiat SpA -- said he was thinking about his successor. He expects will come from within the Fiat-Chrysler alliance.
Marchionne, 59, said he hopes the Fiat-Chrysler alliance will be one of the five or six global players in the auto industry.
"It's going to be up to the guy after me I think — after 2015, hopefully. Maybe a year later," he said at the event. "Chrysler will be here after me."
In a meeting with reporters, Marchionne softened his stance on leaving in 2015 or later. "I technically can go beyond 2015," adding he will "leave later or earlier as the case may be. … I wouldn't focus on the date. I would focus on the process."
Fiat-Chrysler's management has 22 people of nine nationalities. "It's designed to be a proving ground," Marchionne said.
He said he expected 12.7 million U.S. vehicle sales this year. "People are still very reluctant to make long-term commitments to hiring and to capital," Marchionne said, referring to the job outlook.
Fiat — which is now majority owner of Chrysler -— is likely to replace some board members. "It is to reasonably expected, without being traumatic."
He sees a gradual recovery in auto sales over the next three or four years. Chrysler doesn't expect industry sales in 2014 to be close to 15 million, he said. "We're out of the ditch," Marchionne said.
In his speech to auto executives and engineers here, Marchionne said China poses a challenge to the auto industry in the United States.
"China is the largest producer of cars in the world. They produce almost entirely for the enormous domestic market, but their future plans for the export market are significant," Marchionne said. "Even assuming China were to export only 10 percent of what it produces, the risk we face in our home markets is enormous. We cannot afford to be unprepared for the ascent of China, reassuring ourselves of our invincibility."
China will be entering the U.S. market - though Chinese automakers' have been promising to arrive for several years. "They are coming," he said. "They have a right to be here."
He also said talks with the United Auto Workers are off to a strong start.
"Our relationship with the UAW is crucial to our future," he said. "The tone of the dialogue so far has been incredibly productive."
The main talks won't begin in earnest likely until after Labor Day as talks in August are generally at a lower level between the union and company dealing with less controversial issues.
Marchionne's said the new management structure unveiled last week was aimed at speeding decisions.
"We just announced last week a new leadership structure in order to ensure speed, clarity of direction and unity of purpose," he said. "When two enterprises integrate, they share everything: industrial resources and know-how, projects and targets, challenges and ambitions."
Marchionne also said that Chrysler's Super Bowl ad touting the 200 and featuring Eminem, which has been seen on YouTube nearly 19 million times and won four awards at the Cannes film festival, has been nominated for an Emmy.
He also lamented the failure to get more concessions in Europe.
"The lack of a common vision hampered and continues to hamper efforts to address deeply rooted structural problems," he said. "There appears to be no immediate, obvious answer to the European conundrum. But time is running out for all European carmakers."
Fiat plans to have a plant running in China next year that can assemble 300,000 vehicles annually. But he added Chrysler had no plans to build the Jeep Wrangler anywhere outside the United States.
Marchionne also said that compressed natural gas — used more widely in Europe — can be part of the solution in the United States. But he also criticized the focus on electric vehicles, which he called "overhyped."
"It cannot be the only answer," Marchionne said.
Marchionne said the deal to boost 2017-25 fuel economy standards to 54.5 mpg is "very doable" - and should be technology neutral.
"We believe government regulations will have the greatest positive impact if they are technology neutral," he said.
But he criticized the auto industry for often saying the industry couldn't meet new requirements. He said any time standards are set so far out, they can be a potential problem.
"This industry has got a very bad habit of crying wolf and sooner or later somebody's going to call your marker and call your bluff," he said. He noted that automakers have long opposed mileage requirements but ultimately always complied.
Environmentalists praised Marchionne's candor. "I welcome all truth tellers," said Dan Becker, director of the Safe Climate Campaign.
Two major German automakers — Daimler AG and Volkswagen AG — both refused to support the deal to hike standards in part because it gave incentives for electric vehicles and other technologies, but not for diesel models.
Chrysler expects a fleet-wide improvement in fuel economy of at least 25 percent expected over the five-year period that ends in 2014.
Marchionne said the company's results continue to show progress as evidenced by its July sales results.
"Our worldwide vehicle sales were up 19 percent versus the same period last year, and our sales growth is outpacing the market," he said.
