Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said that he may retire around 2015 or 2016, and that he is beginning to make plans for a successor. Hit the jump to read the rest of the story.
Funk Flex

The 59-year-old executive said Wednesday at the seminars here that the next CEO would be drawn from the 22-member Group Executive Council that will manage Chrysler and Fiat starting Sept. 1.

“There will be a Chrysler after me,” Marchionne quipped during a question-and-answer session with reporters. Marchionne also is CEO of Fiat.

On other topics, Marchionne said:

• Chrysler will start producing vehicles in China by 2014, presumably in Fiat’s plants. Fiat is building a Chinese assembly plant.

• Industry sales in the United States this year will total 12.7 million vehicles, continuing the market’s slow recovery from its lows of 2009. Chrysler expects to sell 2.0 million units this year and 2.3 million units in 2012. Speculation that the U.S. economy may suffer a double-dip recession is overblown. “We are out of the ditch,” he said. “We expect a gradual recovery over the next three to four years.”

• Contract negotiations with the UAW are expected to be smooth. “If anybody starts any type of confrontational process, we’re going to undo everything,” he said during a radio interview earlier Wednesday.

• An initial public offering of stock for Chrysler is unlikely in 2012, but an eventual IPO would allow the UAW’s retiree health care fund to convert its Chrysler stake into cash.

• The new 54.5-mpg federal fuel economy standard for 2025 is “very doable.” While electric cars will have a niche in the U.S. market, it would be a mistake to consider EVs as a panacea, he argued. Instead, automakers can adopt a variety of fuel-saving technologies to upgrade gasoline powertrains. “It’s like walking into a toy store and having the freedom to buy stuff until 2025,” he joked.

Marchionne, dressed in a black golf shirt, appeared relaxed and upbeat during his speech to auto executives and his subsequent press conference.

During a radio interview, Marchionne said he drives a Dodge Charger SRT8 as his everyday ride — “black on black.”
AutoNews