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Don't worry about what happens to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in 2018

FCA

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles made its New York stock exchange debut on Monday, beginning trading at $9 a share, and closing at $9.02.

Not bad, for a tumultuous day on Wall Street, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell a full 1.6%.

FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne and FCA Chairman John Elkann rang the closing bell together - after giving a joint press conference.

Most of the questions and answers were in Italian.  So, it looks like I'm going to have to learn Italian if I want to continue to cover FCA.

However, my English is pretty up to snuff, and here's what Marchionne had to say about last week's news that he will depart the company in 2018:

It's a crime from a governance standpoint not to plan accurately a succession path for key positions. I spend almost a month and a half every year - almost two months - reviewing the career development of over 2,000 people, people I work with directly, people that work for those people, and a variety of other high potential candidates that sit within the organization. And I do this to make sure we manage their careers and that the house is never ever left without leadership. Ever.

Marchionne, then CEO of Fiat, was given management control of Chrysler by the Obama administration's Auto Task Force, when Chrysler filed for bankruptcy in 2009.

Fiat acquired all Chrysler stock in January of 2014.

The merged company's stock began trading on the New York stock exchange on Monday, October 13, 2014 - Columbus Day, aptly enough - under the ticker symbol FCA.

Tracy Samilton covers energy and transportation, including the auto industry and the business response to climate change for Michigan Public. She began her career at Michigan Public as an intern, where she was promptly “bitten by the radio bug,” and never recovered.