Paris (AFP) – Auto giant Stellantis, whose brands include Jeep, Peugeot, and Fiat, on Wednesday named company veteran Antonio Filosa as its new chief executive officer as the US-European group navigates US tariffs and slumping North American sales. The Italian manager, who has led Stellantis in North and South America, will succeed Carlos Tavares, who was sacked in December.
Filosa, who joined Fiat in 1999, recalled that his first job was as a paint shop quality supervisor at a plant in Spain, where he worked the night shift. “This company is in my blood and I couldn’t be more proud of the chance to work with all of you,” Filosa said in a letter to employees seen by AFP. Filosa, 51, was unanimously selected by the board following a “thorough search process of internal and external candidates,” Stellantis said in a statement.
Stellantis said it would call an extraordinary shareholder meeting in the coming days to elect Filosa to the board to serve as an executive director of the company. “Meanwhile, to give him full authority and ensure an efficient transition, the Board has granted him CEO powers effective June 23,” the statement said. “The Board selected Antonio Filosa to be CEO based on his proven track record of hands-on success during his more than 25 years in the automotive industry,” Stellantis said. The company also praised “the depth and span of his experience around the world, his unrivalled knowledge of the Company and his recognised leadership qualities.”
Stellantis shares were flat at around midday following the announcement.
– Tavares: good times, bad times –
Stellantis, whose other brands include Ram trucks, Dodge, Chrysler, and Maserati, has struggled with falling sales in its key North American market. US President Donald Trump’s 25-percent tariffs on the car industry have added to the company’s woes. Last month, Stellantis dropped its annual financial guidance due to uncertainty over the levies. Filosa, who has previously served as chief executive of the Jeep brand, was promoted to the role of chief operating officer for the Americas region in December.
“Since his appointment, he has initiated the strengthening of the US operations,” Stellantis said, noting that he “significantly” reduced excessive inventories at dealerships and reorganised the leadership team. Filosa was also named to the new role of chief quality officer earlier this year.
Tavares engineered one of the most ambitious mergers in automotive history in 2021, when more than a dozen brands were put under the same roof. The Portuguese executive, who headed French group Peugeot-Citroen at the time, was appointed chief executive of the newly created French-Italian-American behemoth Stellantis. His three-year tenure was marked by high profit margins that were the envy of its rivals in the auto industry, but the good times ended last year as sales plummeted in the United States.
When his abrupt resignation was announced in December, Stellantis pointed out that “different views” had emerged between the board and Tavares. In February, the group shifted focus to the quality of its vehicles, unravelling the legacy left by CEO Carlos Tavares, a staunch advocate of cost-cutting. After the first few years marked by record profits, the disappointing quality of certain models and prices that were too high compared to the competition contributed to the collapse of the group’s sales in the United States in 2024.
In France, the CFE-CGC union said it expects Filosa to “break with the authoritarian, cost-cutting management style of the Tavares era.” The Peugeot family, the second-biggest shareholder in Stellantis, issued a statement hailing Filosa’s “in-depth knowledge of the realities on the ground and close understanding of the industrial culture” in the group.
© 2024 AFP
