His business acumen was also repeatedly on display. Soon after becoming chief executive, he took advantage of an existing deal between General Motors and Fiat to attempt to force G.M. to buy the Italian carmaker, a move G.M. had no desire to make. In a high-stakes game of corporate poker, Mr. Marchionne compelled G.M. to pay Fiat $2 billion to end their alliance, and used the money to develop new models, including the Fiat 500, a small car that became a hit in Europe.

His crowning achievement may have been his decision to drive a hard bargain for Chrysler in 2009.



As the Treasury Department in Washington hastened to prevent the collapse of much of the United States auto industry in the wake of the financial crisis, Mr. Marchionne stepped forward with an audacious offer: Fiat would take control of Chrysler, the sickest of Detroit’s Big Three automakers, and provide cars and technology to revive it.

There was a catch, however: The government would have to hand Chrysler over to Fiat free of charge.

It was a hardball offer typical of Mr. Marchionne. But he knew that the Treasury, as well as Chrysler’s creditors and its labor union, had little room to negotiate. The American economy was slipping deeper into recession, the collapse of Chrysler would have meant the loss of tens of thousands of jobs, and no other company was willing to rescue it.

It was the beginning of one of the most remarkable rescues in the auto industry. Today, Fiat Chrysler, while still facing challenges, is solidly profitable, and Mr. Marchionne is revered in the halls of two headquarters, in Turin, Italy, and in Auburn Hills, Mich., north of Detroit.