After 23 glorious years at the helm of the world’s greatest car company, Luca di Montezemolo is stepping down from his position as the CEO of Ferrari. The charismatic 67-year-old will be replaced by the big boss of Fiat-Chrysler Group, which owns Ferrari, Sergio Marchionne.

This is a decision supported by Luca di Montezemolo who believes the brand should be led by the CEO of the Group, as it is set to play a major role in “the upcoming flotation on Wall Street.” In other words, the future of the whole enterprise relies to some extent on the performance of Ferrari.

di Montezemolo, who has spent pretty much all of his life with Ferrari, commented: “This is the end of an era. I have decided to leave my position as Chairman after almost 23 marvelous and unforgettable years in addition to those spent at Enzo Ferrari’s side in the 1970s.

“Ferrari is the most wonderful company in the world. It has been a great privilege and honour to have been its leader. I devoted all of my enthusiasm and commitment to it over the years. Together with my family, it was, and continues to be, the most important thing in my life”.

An official announcement will follow later today in a joint press conference with Mr Marchionne and Mr Montezemolo.