Sergio may stay till 2020, hunts for next top leader

Sergio Marchionne is 63 and the first to admit that he won't stick around as CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles forever. But he may remain a bit longer than expected.

In May 2014, Marchionne said he would remain in his role until 2018, but he told Automotive News in August that he could hang on until 2020.

"I can do this for another five years if you push me, right? Beyond that, I ain't gonna do it, and I don't want to," he said.

So who follows him into the hot seat at FCA?

Marchionne said he spends six weeks each year reviewing personnel files, on the lookout for talent in order to groom them for leadership.

"My purpose in life is to find the Kuniskises of the world, the Manleys, the Biglands, the Palmers," he said.

He was referring to his top lieutenants -- Dodge brand head Tim Kuniskis, 48; Jeep brand boss Mike Manley, 51; U.S. and Canada sales chief Reid Bigland, 48; and CFO Richard Palmer, 48.

"I've got a crew of kids that are growing properly," said Marchionne. "I think I will still be afraid today to let them alone into the woods because they'll come back with a [expletive] bloody nose and no legs, but there's going to be a point in time in which I'm going to have to let them go ... into the woods alone and see what they can find."

Marchionne recalled his first days as CEO of Fiat S.p.A., which had burned through a string of CEOs before his arrival in 2004. Stability in top positions is important, which is why he said he tries to "establish a culture where leadership matters."

He said part of growing a leadership class includes allowing people to make mistakes and take responsibility for them.

"I told them, 'One of you is going to do what I do one day. I don't know who that is, but one of you is going to do it.'

"When you sit in my shoes," Marchionne said he told his underlings, "it's all your fault, all of it. I can't throw people under the bus."