David Smith took the top slot at Jaguar Land Rover just as sales started to dive. He says last week’s aid from government simply isn’t enough.

In an industry split between bean-counters and petrolheads Sergio Marchionne, Fiat’s boss, falls into the extreme fringe of the second category. In addition to a collection of Ferraris, he owns an Alfa Romeo 8C, and a Maserati Quattroporte, a Fiat group model that he drives when in Turin. One anagram of his name is “his car engine room”.

When Alan Mulally moved to Ford Motor from a senior job at Boeing in September 2006, it was in the most precarious position of any Detroit carmaker.