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Ferrari CEO will not leave post before IPO: Marchionne

Ferrari S.p.A. CEO Amedeo Felisa addresses media during the first press day ahead of the 85th International Motor Show in Geneva March 3, 2015. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

MONZA, Italy (Reuters) - Ferrari Chief Executive Amedeo Felisa will not leave his post before the luxury sportscar maker's initial public offering (IPO) planned for later this year, the boss of parent company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) said on Saturday.

Felisa, who is nearly 70, is planning to retire soon and the listing would be a good time to do so, but no final decision has been made, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters last week.

"He (Felisa) will not leave before the IPO and the question of succession is one we have to deal with not only with Felisa but with other key positions inside the group," FCA Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne told journalists on the sidelines of the Italian Formula One Grand Prix in Monza.

"At the right time we will provide the right solution," he said.

Sources have said Marchionne is preparing to step into the chief executive role, but the FCA boss said it was too early to say. He also refused to be drawn on whether FCA Chairman John Elkann could become chairman of the sportscar maker.

"We are not at that stage yet. Everything else I can tell you would be pure conjecture," Marchionne said.

If Marchionne were to make the move, it would not make much difference to Ferrari, where he is already chairman and effectively in command.

FCA, which owns around 90 percent of Ferrari, is planning to boost its coffers by listing up to 10 percent of its stake publicly and distributing the rest to its shareholders.

Marchionne said he hoped Felisa, who joined Ferrari as an engineer in 1990, would stay at the company in some capacity.

"Continuity in an environment like this, especially for a company that has had a successful run commercially, as it has had, is important. He (Felisa) has done a great number of things for the development of Ferrari."

Marchionne has said Ferrari should be worth at least $11 billion.

(Reporting by Agnieszka Flak; Writing by Isla Binnie; Editing by Mark Potter)