Amedeo Felisa is said to have resigned from his post as chief executive officer of Ferrari, according to unconfirmed reports in the Italian press.
Italian automotive website www.autoblog.it has reported the news, but the official word from Ferrari is “we do not comment on speculation or rumour”.
Felisa, 69, has been part of the senior team at Maranello since 1990 when he joined from Alfa Romeo and initially held the role of technical director.
He succeeded Jean Todt as CEO in 2008 and is said to be close to former president Luca di Montezemolo, who left Ferrari in October last year.
A biography of Felisa on Ferrari’s official website states that he was born in 1946 in Milan and graduated in mechanical engineering from the University Politecnico of Milan.
He joined Alfa Romeo’s innovation and experimentation department in 1972 and became head of product development in 1987.
In 1990 he joined Ferrari, and in July 2001 he became general manager of the Gran Turismo Department.
In June 2004, Felisa was appointed deputy general manager of Ferrari, while retaining his role as Gran Turismo general manager. In 2006 Felisa became general manager of Ferrari and then chief executive of Ferrari in 2008.
With Ferrari on the brink of filing its initial public offering (IPO), any change of management at the head of the company at this stage would be highly unusual due to its potentially destabilising effect.
At the recent Festival of Speed, Ferrari chiefs indicated that there has been no change of direction for Ferrari at the very top of the company following the departure of Luca di Montezemolo last year and the arrival of Sergio Marchionne as his replacement.
Commercial chief Enrico Galliera told Autocar at Goodwood that there was “consistency” at Ferrari and “it’s still run in the same way. The management, strategy and key priorities are all the same so we work with no shocks.”
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