MNA Advances With New Leadership
CEO Mark McNabb has the Passion and the Plan

Mark McNabb, the new Chief Executive Officer of Maserati North America, has had a long and successful career in the auto industry; he has been Senior Vice President in charge of sales and marketing at both Nissan North America and Mercedes-Benz of America, and was in charge of global operations for the Infiniti luxury brand.  Most recently, he served as a GM Vice President in charge of the Cadillac luxury brand. When we spoke to him in the New Jersey headquarters of Maserati North America (MNA), barely a month after taking over the reins at Maserati, we found him to be a relaxed and forthright person with a deep understanding of the business and a passion for the Maserati brand and a personal concern for the happiness of  Maserati owners.  We first asked him why he had opted to join the famous Italian marque.

"I was looking for a new challenge, something new to learn and participate in," he told us. "I have been in the mass market and I've been in the luxury market - being in the ultra-luxury market is appealing. Also it's nice to come home - I'm from Connecticut but I have a home in New Jersey - it sure beats Detroit winters! Seriously, I'm also excited about joining a part of the Fiat group; I think that Sergio Marchionne, the chief executive of Fiat, has a great vision of where the company needs to be in ten years' time, and how to get there from now. I agree with him that we are going to see a period of mass consolidation; I think it is really important to be part of a group that has a vision, and we have a strong vision of the future."

Coming from the likes of Infiniti, Mercedes and Cadillac, we wondered how Mark would handle the change to a company with a significantly smaller number of models and cars. "In some ways it's more challenging, because there aren't a lot of people to do all the tasks; so it's much more hands-on than my last couple of roles, but I actually much prefer being more hands-on, being in the thick of things," he said."Sure, small companies have their own challenges - there's great immediacy, it's much more about cash flow than with bigger companies, it's about sustaining profits, and the numbers are smaller. On the plus side, it's much easier to have an impact in a smaller company, you can really inject your personality into a company of this size. One advantage is that I get 50 emails a day rather than 500!"

"For sure we want to sell more cars, and increase our share of the market - but on the other hand, part of my job is to try to ensure there is one less car than there are customers," he continued. "Exclusivity is one of the key factors that make Maserati such an alluring, attractive brand; it's right up there with luxury and performance. In fact, you can think of those three as the legs of a tripod - if you lose any one, if any of them fails to match the other two, then it loses its balance. What makes Maserati special is the blend of being luxurious and being performance-oriented. It's a unique combination; a lot of brands are about being luxurious, and others are just about performance; Maserati is unique, it has a lot of flair, it has a neat balance between performance and luxury which I don't think many makers have. For other companies it's one or the other, but not really both."

McNabb may be a life-long auto industry executive but, importantly, he is also a real car enthusiast; when we asked him where he likes to drive his  Maserati Quattroporte, he laughed and replied: "Anywhere and everywhere!" This explained his answer when we asked him what he thought are the strengths of Maserati, what he will be able to capitalize on. "The Italian heritage and racing heritage of Maserati are tremendous. It's recognized pretty quickly as a performance car, all you have to do is mention Maserati and people know it. In fact, as far as the performance, elegance and sophistication are concerned, boy, I don't think you can avoid them - the Italian style and design and flair really has to come through on these cars. So people are familiar with the brand, and when they see them they love the cars, but they aren't always familiar with the products and they are often overestimating the prices, and I think that's where the challenge is."

What of the Maserati buyer - what does Mark McNabb feel they should expect?  "In a phrase 'a great experience'. We've got a great product, and the experience and the product need to match. We've come a long way with the cars; the Quattroporte S is just fantastic, and people need to get in it and drive it, so I would tell prospective customers that they need to put their rear ends in the seat and experience it. They really are fantastically crafted and finely tuned engines and automobiles that are just a lot of fun.  The experience with our dealers will match that: it will be good, trusting, and fun.  The dealers are the face to this brand. I've been out and met over 35 dealers in the last month, and we've got great dealers. They have excellent facilities and  they know how to treat luxury customers. So our buyers will get what they expect, and they should expect nothing but the best - they're buying our car and they're buying our experience."

We also found that Mark has another passion, besides Maserati, and one that can inform the long view of any business and brand management. " I'm a history buff - I read lots of books on history," he told us. "I've just finished the book The Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara, about the Battle of Gettysburg, and then my younger brother told me that after that, I needed to read Gettysburg, the book by Newt Gingrich and William Forstchen, since it ponders what might have happened if the Confederates had won. Not that I specialize in the Civil War, they're just the two most recent books on history that I've read."

Our final question was of what he thought of the future, and what he brought to the table to help lead Maserati on to greater achievements. "I think I bring an in-depth understanding of the marketplace; I've been in the industry for 20-odd years, I've run some pretty big companies and I understand the North American market," Mark said. "I've studied the luxury auto industry for a long time, and not just in the US; I've had the opportunity to watch Infiniti globally, and got a lot of neat experiences out of that, and really enjoyed it. So I think my background will help me in terms of credibility with the dealers and also with Italy to get things done. As for the future, I'm sure the future is bright. The product plans are healthy, we will have some announcements in Frankfurt which will add even more sizzle to the line-up - but I can't tell you about those just yet" he laughed. "Seriously, we've got some great cars, and we're going to do some things to make them even better. I believe we have the right stuff to work our way through the current economic downturn, and I think Frankfurt will be an important date for us to announce some things. I think the future is pretty bright."