TORONTO - No other auto executive has gone from relative obscurity to international stardom as quickly as Sergio Marchionne. A year ago, he was the boss of Europe's sixth-largest carmaker - a relative nonentity. Today as CEO of Fiat and Chrysler Group, he is single-handedly shaking up the global auto industry. In the depths of the worst auto recession since the Second World War, most car companies went into survival mode - but Marchionne went on the offensive.

Opinions about his chances of success vary, but Marchionne is admired for his ambition and vision. He saw synergies in two radically different companies - synergies that he expects will save billions. Marchionne predicts only six large auto groups will survive globally, and he fully expects Fiat-Chrysler to be among them. Last summer, Chrysler was in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy lockbox, and Fiat, while profitable, was considered too small to thrive on its own. What a difference a year makes.

In the December issue of Report on Business magazine, available today, writer Eric Reguly takes an in-depth look at CEO of the Year, Sergio Marchionne and whether he can turn around Chrysler.

Also in this issue:

Mink dynasty - A global recession and animal rights activists have devastated the fur market in Europe and North America. Not so in China, where a Canadian company is leading the charge. Is the fur craze that has gripped China's bling-obsessed new-rich a bubble? Probably - but Toronto furrier Diane Benedetti and the rest of the struggling North American industry want to ride it as long as possible. Writer Chris Nuttall-Smith takes a closer look at the marketing arm of Toronto-based North American Fur Auctions, the world's No. 3 fur auction house.

37 minutes equal $150,000 worth of history - Thanks to communications companies like Calgary-owned tinePublic Inc, old political lions like Bill Clinton and Tony Blair are earning more speaking to business audiences than they did running countries. Writer Don Gillmor examines why the public loves the political stars of yesteryear and why a little company from Calgary is only too happy to bring them together.