Sergio Marchionne declines Chrysler pay, bonuses for 2011

While 2011 was a fantastic year for the Chrysler Group, it was a major financial year with $7.6 billion paid back for the government bailout loans by the smallest of the American automakers combined with a heavy work load for the management while hammering out the new American UAW. It was a very busy year for Marchionne as he was constantly jetting between his duties in Europe with Fiat and his work here in the US as the head of the Chrysler Group. Between 2010 and 2011, Marchionne helped the Chrysler Group climb out of bankruptcy and away from some of the worst years in the company’s existence and unlike some company bosses who are figureheads; Marchionne is a hands-on leader who has made massive changes throughout the company in an effort to improve things at Chrysler. Based on his efforts in helping to heal Chrysler, Marchionne certainly seems to deserve payment from the American automaker but as part of his continued effort to improve the company – he has waived off his salary and bonuses for the second straight year.

Chrysler did cover some of Sergio Marchionne’s living expenses while in the United States, including his cleaning, utility fees, insurance, security costs and association fees for his condo near the Chrysler headquarters in Detroit. The company claimed that it was less costly for them to maintain the condominium than to put Sergio up in hotels whenever he was in Detroit on Chrysler business.

While Sergio didn’t accept any pay or bonuses from Chrysler in what were strong back to back years for the Chrysler Group as a whole, he does still receive what we imagine is a handsome salary for his role at the helm of Fiat SpA. In addition to taking the reins at Chrysler and helping them scramble out of the grasp of government control, Marchionne has made some significant changes including splitting the Ram Truck brand out of Dodge along with creating the SRT standalone brand.

Chrysler finished 2011 up 24.3% compared to 2010 while the industry improved by just 10.3% and they have followed up the strong 2011 with a powerful first two months of 2012. Even though the new Fiat 500 missed its first year sales goal, the Fiat brand joins the Ram, Jeep, Chrysler and Dodge brand – all of which have shown strong growth since Fiat and Sergio took control.