Luca Cordero di Montezemolo will resign from his position as Ferrari chairman, which he has held since 1991, next month.

He will be replaced by Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne.

Luca di Montezemolo said: "Ferrari will have an important role to play within the FCA Group in the upcoming flotation on Wall Street.

"This will open up a new and different phase which I feel should be spearheaded by the CEO of the Group."

Montezemolo added: "This is the end of an era and so I have decided to leave my position as Chairman after almost 23 marvellous and unforgettable years in addition to those spent at Enzo Ferrari’s side in the 1970s."

There are rumours, however, that Montezemolo and Marchionne had clashed over the future of Ferrari's road car division, as well as issues surrounding the Ferrari F1 team's recent performance.

A Ferrari spokesperson said that the changes shouldn't affect the company on a day-to-day basis. The company itself is an integral part of the new FCA Group, as although it only accounts for around 10 per cent of turnover it delivers some 25 per cent of the profits.

The group also stands to benefit from Ferrari's ongoing contribution to Maserati, with which Ferrari shares engineering, development and production facilities.

Montezemolo became chairman of Ferrari in 1991 after working his way through several positions at Fiat. Under the stewardship of Montezemolo the company improved its profits, road cars and motorsport performance.

He will depart from Ferrari on 13 October. Technical director Roberto Fedeli has also left Ferrari recently, in a rumoured move to BMW.