Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne is headed downtown?

**AGinthe313** · April-25-12, 03:41 PM

Does this mean that Sergio Marchionne’s office will be downtown? The way it is written in the Detroit News, it certainly implies it. Am I reading this correctly? Did I miss something?

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...#ixzz1t5PsvP3d

**401don** · April-25-12, 03:48 PM

It reads that way and maybe for some symbolic reason he wants an office downtown but he certainly won't spend much time there. If you saw the 60 Minutes segment a few wks ago he spends almost all of his Auburn Hills time walking the floor talking to other execs, engineers, etc. and as little time as possible in his office.

**gameguy56** · April-25-12, 03:49 PM

The Italian executive and about 70 other Chrysler Group LLC employees are moving into the Dime Building at 719 Griswold, according to sources familiar with the situation.

Seems crystal clear to me.

**JBMcB** · April-26-12, 08:42 AM

It's great that more businesses are moving in, but why does Chrysler need an office downtown? It's not like they are hurting for space at the Chryslerplex.

**cman710** · April-26-12, 08:48 AM

My guess is that the move is a result of one or several of the following:

- A downtown presence allows Chrysler to beef up its "Imported from Detroit" marketing campaign.

- A downtown office for Marchionne provides some symbolic benefits

- The company might built out some meeting space, as it could be that some meetings with outside individuals would be more convenient to have downtown.

- The sales and marketing employees might be closer to some of their vendors downtown [[completely speculating here)

**ndavies** · April-26-12, 08:51 AM

Originally Posted by JBMcB

It's great that more businesses are moving in, but why does Chrysler need an office downtown? It's not like they are hurting for space at the Chryslerplex.

CTC and the Headquarters are completely full. They are over capacity.

They closed several buildings during the downsizing. They have now outgrown the space they have with the recent rush to replace all the engineers, sales and support people Cerberus cut.

**ghettopalmetto** · April-26-12, 08:52 AM

Originally Posted by JBMcB

It's great that more businesses are moving in, but why does Chrysler need an office downtown? It's not like they are hurting for space at the Chryslerplex.

Maybe he finds Auburn Hills to be duller than shit?

**AGinthe313** · April-26-12, 08:58 AM

Originally Posted by ghettopalmetto

Maybe he finds Auburn Hills to be duller than shit?

LMAO - That would be my guess.

**JBMcB** · April-26-12, 09:00 AM

Originally Posted by ndavies

They closed several buildings during the downsizing. They have now outgrown the space they have with the recent rush to replace all the engineers, sales and support people Cerberus cut.

Ah, that makes sense. Last time I talked to Auburn Hills guys [[early-2000s) there was plenty of space up there. I guess it's also a good PR move, and convenient to suppliers downtown meeting with GM/AA/whomever.

**Hermod** · April-26-12, 09:03 AM

Originally Posted by ghettopalmetto

Maybe he finds Auburn Hills to be duller than shit?

Regardless of how he feels about the nightlife out in Auburn Hills, he needs to be with the engineers and designers, not out with the sales, marketing, and other "vaporware" types. We have had too many "non-car people" screwing up the auto companies.

**rjk** · April-26-12, 09:09 AM

He purchased two houses in Commerce township for security reasons. I'm having a hard time believing he'll be spending much time at all at the two floors in the Dime building.

**AGinthe313** · April-26-12, 09:14 AM

Originally Posted by Hermod

We have had too many "non-car people" screwing up the auto companies.

Yeah – like that outsider Alan Mulally guy over at Ford. Sorry I couldn’t pass this one up [[I know he’s an engineering guy) – just kidding, I do agree with you.

**Bham1982** · April-26-12, 09:17 AM

Originally Posted by ndavies

CTC and the Headquarters are completely full. They are over capacity.

Totally untrue. They are actually well under capacity at Chrysler Tech.

Overall HQ headcount is down a few thousand, and they have entirely vacant wings.

Chrysler would probably need a few decades of sustained growth to fill that complex out. It has more floorspace than GM HQ, for a company a tiny fraction of the size.

**iheartthed** · April-26-12, 09:33 AM

Originally Posted by Hermod

Regardless of how he feels about the nightlife out in Auburn Hills, he needs to be with the engineers and designers, not out with the sales, marketing, and other "vaporware" types. We have had too many "non-car people" screwing up the auto companies.

Yeah, it was the "non-car people" that nearly "vapor"-ized the American auto industry several years ago.

**313WX** · April-26-12, 09:35 AM

So if the CEO's going to be downtown, that means the headquarters is going to be downtown as well, right?

After all, that was how Comerica screwed us with the Dallas headquarters, yes?

**ghettopalmetto** · April-26-12, 09:40 AM

Originally Posted by Hermod

Regardless of how he feels about the nightlife out in Auburn Hills, he needs to be with the engineers and designers, not out with the sales, marketing, and other "vaporware" types. We have had too many "non-car people" screwing up the auto companies.

It has nothing to do with nightlife. You simply can't run a creativity-dependent company from the most mind-numbing environment on earth.

**Hermod** · April-26-12, 10:22 AM

Originally Posted by ghettopalmetto

It has nothing to do with nightlife. You simply can't run a creativity-dependent company from the most mind-numbing environment on earth.

Yes, Thomas Edison got his start in the vibrant downtown of the great metropolis of Port Huron.

Daimler-Benz is in the tiny burg of Sindelfingen quite a few miles outside of Stuttgart.

Volkswagen is in Wolfsburg, not a hot spot on a tour of the "Great Cities of Europe".

**JBMcB** · April-26-12, 10:46 AM

Originally Posted by Hermod

Yes, Thomas Edison got his start in the vibrant downtown of the great metropolis of Port Huron...

In all fairness, he opened his laboratories in the bustling metropolises of Menlo Park and West Orange, NJ.

Then there's Silicon Valley, which was basically a huge industrial park until recently.

**ndavies** · April-26-12, 11:08 AM

Originally Posted by Bham1982

Totally untrue. They are actually well under capacity at Chrysler Tech.

Overall HQ headcount is down a few thousand, and they have entirely vacant wings.

Chrysler would probably need a few decades of sustained growth to fill that complex out. It has more floorspace than GM HQ, for a company a tiny fraction of the size.

Sorry, It's totally true. I used to work in the building and have a number of management friends who still work there. One friend has a several openings he needs to hire but can't due to lack of space. I even heard a rumour that Auburn hills fire department has been ticketing them due to being over capacity in the building.

Yes, CTC and Chrysler's headquarters are the second largest office building in the country. However, You can't compare GM's headquarters to Chryslers. Chryslers headquarters/CTC contains most of Chryslers engineering , Gm's headquarters contains relatively little engineering. TO be a fair comparison you would have to compare chryslers aurburn hills site to GM's hRencen headquarters and it's Warren engineering facility.

**Detroitnerd** · April-26-12, 11:24 AM

Originally Posted by Hermod

Yes, Thomas Edison got his start in the vibrant downtown of the great metropolis of Port Huron.

Oh, you. As someone who has read deeply on Edison, including Matthew Josephson's excellent biography, I can tell you Edison was more cosmopolitan than you portray him. Sure, he was a hick, a tobacco-chewing bumpkin to many. But when he was a kid, he used to spend time voraciously reading at the Detroit Free Library, haunting the typesetting rooms at Detroit newspapers, working as a boisterous candy butcher on trains from Port Huron to downtown Detroit, very much rubbing elbows with the people and taking advantage of the culture and knowledge available in the largest city in the area, Detroit.

In a lot of ways, Edison was a jerk, but don't say he didn't seek out culture or that it wasn't available to him at the time.

**ghettopalmetto** · April-26-12, 11:39 AM

Originally Posted by Hermod

Yes, Thomas Edison got his start in the vibrant downtown of the great metropolis of Port Huron.

Daimler-Benz is in the tiny burg of Sindelfingen quite a few miles outside of Stuttgart.

Volkswagen is in Wolfsburg, not a hot spot on a tour of the "Great Cities of Europe".

Fair enough. But it doesn't negate the fact that the CEO is seeking office space in Detroit. Perhaps he just plain doesn't want to work in Auburn Hills [[perish the thought!). I'm sure he has a valid reason.

**milt721** · April-26-12, 11:39 AM

Also from the Detroit News article:

"Marchionne will maintain his current office at Chrysler's Auburn Hills headquarters, too."

And:
"Civic pride is important in Italy, and several Italian executives now working in Auburn Hills say they were surprised how many southeastern Michigan residents are embarrassed by the region's most important city."

**Detroitnerd** · April-26-12, 12:39 PM

Originally Posted by milt721

Also from the Detroit News article:

"Marchionne will maintain his current office at Chrysler's Auburn Hills headquarters, too."

And:
"Civic pride is important in Italy, and several Italian executives now working in Auburn Hills say they were surprised how many southeastern Michigan residents are embarrassed by the region's most important city."

Hahaha. I must say, the idea that "southeastern Michigan residents are embarrassed by" Detroit is hilarious to me. It's a very polite way to put it. Hahahaha.

AT THE CONVENTION...

CHICAGOAN: Hi, I'm from Chicago. Where are you from?

DETROITER: I'm from SOUTHEASTERN MICHIGAN.

CHICAGOAN: Oh, you mean Detroit, right?

DETROITER: No, that's the city. I'm from SOUTHEASTERN MICHIGAN.

CHICAGOAN: But the big city there is Detroit, right? So you're from around Detroit?

DETROITER: No, I don't live in Detroit. I live in SOUTHEASTERN MICHIGAN.

CHICAGOAN: Well, technically, I don't live in Chicago either. I'm from just outside, in Evanston. But we spend so much time in the city, you know, just hop on the train, it's just easier to say we're from Chicago. Our kids live in the city proper.

DETROITER: Yeah, we live, like, miles and miles from the downtown of that city in SOUTHEASTERN MICHIGAN.

CHICAGOAN: How many miles?

DETROITER: Like, 10 miles. We're from a place in SOUTHEASTERN MICHIGAN called Royal Oak.

CHICAGOAN: Well! You're closer to the city than I am! How nice it must be to live so close to downtown!

DETROITER: Yeah, we don't really go to that city in SOUTHEASTERN MICHIGAN. There's already so much to do in SOUTHEASTERN MICHIGAN, we don't really have to do anything, um, urban.

CHICAGOAN: Well, maybe you don't go into the city, but that's OK. The city is a younger person's place. Do your kids live in Detroit?

DETROITER: Um, no. They left SOUTHEASTERN MICHIGAN. Our daughter lives in Los Angeles and our son lives in Chicago.

CHICAGOAN: Really? Why wouldn't they live in Detroit if they like cities?

DETROITER: Because DETROIT IS A SHITHOLE, OK? THERE! I SAID IT!

CHICAGOAN: Oh, my! [quietly backs off, mingles elsewhere]

**MikeyinBrooklyn** · April-26-12, 01:14 PM

While I think it's good news that Chrysler is bringing some staff downtown, the report of Marchionne's office moving downtown is a little bit overblown, even if true. Reminds me of Governor George Pataki's determination to locate the NY governor's NYC office in The Freedom Tower [[now known as One World Trade Center). In reality, big wigs have multiple offices, and in the modern world, their office is where they are. Like I said, glad he'll have an office downtown, but I bet that it is used for the odd photo-op, not for spending 40 hours a week crunching the numbers and making the big decisions. Still glad he'll be spending a little time downtown. Maybe I'll see him on the People Mover. Like that creepy guy at the GCP station reading the paper...

**MikeyinBrooklyn** · April-26-12, 01:23 PM

Detroitnerd, your post brings my past back to me. When I moved to NY in the late 90's, I initially would say to people that I was from Michigan, or SE Michigan, or suburban Detroit. Then, I realized I actually loved Detroit, and didn't care if someone thought worse of me because of it. So I switched to always answering "Detroit". People's reactions were varied. Some people think I miraculously survived, dodging bullets when not busy building cars. Others then assumed I'm really hip, that I must be an urban artist, with tastes in hip hop and electronica. Finding out that I'm from Detroit caused a lot of people in New York to reveal unintentionally that they were not quite as open minded and informed as they would have themselves believe.