Every Indian who has lived through the 1950s will remember the Premier Padmini or 1100, which was brought to India by Fiat under the Italian car maker's license.

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The Padmini entered the Mumbai taxi market in the late-60s and is associated with Mumbai's culture till date.

Decades later, the storied carmaker is still a favourite among youngsters though its new Jeep Compass SUV.

But the man behind the wheel of Fiat Chrysler is no more.

Sergio Marchionne, the former chief executive officer of Fiat died on Wednesday following complications during a surgery at a Zurich hospital.

Marchionne loved India and Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata group, Mark T. Allen, director of the Jeep’s design studio told Mint last year.

The two were so close that upon Tata's insistence, Marchionne swung the decision to bring Jeep Compass to India, something that was considered as a ridiculous proposition when the vehicle was conceptualized.

“There is a real warm relationship between Mr Ratan Tata and our chairman (Marchionne). That’s probably how it happened. That’s probably the genesis of how we ended up by doing this car in India,” Allen told Mint in an interview in Goa last year.

When Marchionne was two years into his role as CEO of Fiat, he had visited the Delhi Auto Expo in January 2006 and posed with Tata to signal a new alliance with Tata Motors. The tie-up went horribly wrong for the Italian firm, forcing it to significantly scale down Fiat’s operations in the country and introduce Jeep.

But that didn't strain ties between the two industry veterans.

“We are friends first and businessmen second,” Marchionne told the Hindu Business Line newspaper in 2008.

“Sure, we have had differences of view which have been quickly reconciled, but never a fundamental disagreement. There are times I discuss the weirdest things with Ratan, but that is the way we are.”

First Published:Jul 26, 2018 12:54 PM IST