The auto industry loves to find miracle workers. Thirty years ago, Lee Iacocca worked his magic by convincing Congress to deliver a package of loan guarantees that kept Chrysler from going broke. A decade ago, Carlos Ghosn was recruited to save struggling Nissan. Now Sergio Marchionne is being asked to pull together a miracle for the second time.

Nearly six years ago, he was tapped by the floundering Fiat, turning it into one of Europe's most successful automakers. Now he's got an even tougher challenge ahead of him as the new CEO of Chrysler Corp.

Chrysler is the corporate equivalent of a manic depressive. Since being founded by the eponymous Walter P. Chrysler in 1925 it has had numerous runs of rich profits, but it's also come close to catastrophe many times. Early this year, its final chapter might have been written had it not been for a multibillion-dollar bailout cautiously approved by the Obama administration.

The government loans carried some significant caveats, among them that the "new" Chrysler would no longer be an independent manufacturer but would rather fall under the control of Fiat. The Italian automaker started out with a 20 percent stake that could grow to 35 percent if meets a series of goals.

On Wednesday, Marchionne and a largely new senior management team outlined how they'd not only meet those goals but pull off what could become one of the biggest turnaround stories in automotive history.