New Ferrari NV (RACE) CEO: Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne To Replace Amadeo Felisa As Luxury Brand Struggles To Remake Itself [UPDATED]

UPDATE: 12:55 p.m. EDT — Sergio Marchionne will take over as CEO of Ferrari NV “effective immediately,” the company said in a statement Monday. The 63-year-old Italian-Canadian is also the CEO of Fiat Chrysler and is the chairman of Ferrari's board. Ferrari's previous CEO, Amedeo Felisa, will retire but remain on the board of directors as a technical adviser, the company said.

Original story:

First-quarter earnings are not the only news investors can expect to hear Ferrari NV (NASDAQ:RACE) announce Monday. A board shakeup could also be in store, with the Italy-based company expected to announce it will replace CEO Amedeo Felisa with Chairman Sergio Marchionne, Bloomberg reported.

Unofficially, Felisa is expected to announce he will retire when the company's new board of directors meets to discuss first-quarter results. Ferrari stock was up 1.18 percent Monday at $46.39 per share.

The company declined to comment on the switch, Bloomberg reported, and even Marchionne told the news publication he didn't know if he would become CEO.

In January, Ferrari officially spun off from London-headquartered Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, although Ferrari began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in October. The move was overseen by Marchionne, who is also CEO of Fiat Chrysler, of which he became chairman in 2014.

Marchionne has said his plan with Ferrari is to capitalize more broadly on the brand name by focusing on marketing it as a producer of high-end luxury goods, not just automobiles — and by keeping the brand highly desirable by ensuring demand always exceeds supply.

Still, its foray into the realm of luxury goods and entry into competition with names like Hermès have largely been viewed as failures since it went independent and public in October, with stock dropping about 20 percent between then and mid-April.

“Ferrari has an identity crisis,” Adam Wyden, founder of ADW Capital Partners in Washington, told Bloomberg at the time.

Felisa has been CEO of Ferrari since 2008. Prior to that, he oversaw product development at Alfa Romeo, another subsidiary of Fiat Chrysler. Speculation about how long he would remain CEO has continued; in mid-April, Felisa refused to comment on how long he planned to remain in the position.

For Ferrari, analysts have anticipated first-quarter earnings of $0.31 per share, which would beat expectations, as a result of a diversification in Ferrari's revenue sources beyond luxury cars and into engines, merchandise and a Formula One racing team.