Sergio Marchionne is a man with two jobs and now two homes on two continents.

The chief executive officer of Chrysler Group LLC in Auburn Hills and Fiat SpA in Turin, Italy, has purchased a condo in Metro Detroit, where he is spending a lot of time restructuring the ailing U.S. automaker.

Purchasing a place to call home in Birmingham can be seen as a commitment to the area as well as to the automaker, which was not the case with the last man whose job it was to turn Chrysler around.

Marchionne "needs to be visible," said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor. "If he's going to be CEO, he needs to be here."

Cole said that was not the case with past chairman Robert Nardelli, who took the top post when Cerberus Capital Management LP bought 80.1 percent of Chrysler in 2007.

Nardelli stayed in the Townsend Hotel during the work week -- on Chrysler's dime -- and had unlimited use of the corporate jet to fly to his home in Atlanta on weekends or to visit his son in L.A. Despite early pledges to buy a home here, he never became a local homeowner.

Nardelli stepped down as chairman, president and CEO when the new Chrysler Group emerged from bankruptcy and formed an alliance with Fiat on June 10. He returned to work for Cerberus.

"Nardelli was just a caretaker," Cole said. "He was just here to watch Cerberus' money. But Marchionne is here to run the company."

Marchionne appears more inclined to follow the footsteps of Dieter Zetsche, who was the top man at Chrysler when it was part of DaimlerChrysler AG. Zetsche and his family owned a home in Bloomfield Township and his three children went to school in Metro Detroit.

The latest Chrysler chief is in the process of renovating and moving in to his new place, but his family likely will remain in Europe, where Marchionne remains CEO of Fiat as well. The jet-setter is trying to split his time between the two companies.

"He's not a Monday-to-Friday commuter," spokesman Gualberto Ranieri said of the boss he followed from Italy to Auburn Hills. Ranieri also is setting down roots, having purchased a home in Bloomfield Hills.

"He grew up in this part of the world," Ranieri said, referring to the fact that Marchionne's family emigrated from Italy to Toronto when he was young. He continues to visit his mother in Toronto, which is less than five hours from Detroit.

The CEO also lived across the border in Windsor while attending the University of Windsor.

"Notwithstanding we decline to comment on private matters, we remind the CEO has often stressed he is committed to Chrysler Group, its employees, dealers, retirees, suppliers and the local communities, and he is eager to spend time in the surrounding area while working to rebuild an American icon," Chrysler said in a statement.

Marchionne, a workaholic, likely will not be as involved as Zetsche was in the community.

The Italian-Canadian devotes most of his time to work and little to his social life, say those who know him. But he does like to indulge his passion for classical music and opera.

Zetsche was active in a number of business groups, including Detroit Renaissance, the Business Roundtable and Michigan Business Roundtable, and he was chairman of the Detroit Economic Club.

To a lesser extent, he was involved with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and was chair of the United Way Torch Drive.

Nardelli had his pet projects in the community, namely the Freedom Calls initiative that allowed families to use Chrysler video equipment to speak to loved ones serving overseas.