The director of Operations of Stellantis Norte de América and the former CEO of Jeep, Antonio Filosa, speaks during the Stellantis press conference in the Automobility la 2024 Car Show in Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles on November 21, 2024.
Etienne Laurent | AFP | Getty images
The Stellantis automatic giant appointed the Director of Operations of North America, Antonio Filosa as its new executive director, which ended a campaign of months to fill the company’s leadership vacuum.
The multinational conglomerate, which has known names, including Jeep, Dodge, Fiat, Chrysler and Peugeot, said he would hold an extraordinary shareholders meeting in the next few days to make Philosus chosen for the Board to serve as Executive Director.
Stellantis said that Filosa would assume that the powers of the CEO as of June 23. It will take Carlos Tavares, who unexpectedly resigned in December after a strong drop in profits, the fall of sales and problems in the United States.
“It is a great honor to be appointed CEO of this fantastic company,” said Philose in a statement, pointing out that he takes charge in a “crucial moment for our industry.”
Philose, in an internal note to employees on Wednesday, he said that his “essential” approach will be “strengthening the ties and trust we have with our partners: our concessionaires, suppliers, unions and communities.”
Reparation relationships have been a priority for philosopher for much of last year after a division among many of Stellantis under Tavares, especially in the United States.
A 25 -year -old veteran of the company, Philoso previously served as Jeep Brand CEO before being named Coo de North America in October 2024 and quality director in January this year.
In addition to repairing bonds, we must balance the company’s investments in internal combustion engines and electric vehicles, while trying that the company’s finances will direct again.
Stellantis recently reported an interannual recession of 14% in the net income of the first quarter and withdrew its financial orientation throughout the year due to uncertainties regarding the impact of the commercial policy of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, round trip.
Uncertainty about commercial tariffs is expected to deeply affect the automotive industry, particularly given the high globalization of supply chains and the great dependence on manufacturing operations in North America.
Stellantis said that John Elkann, who had led an interim executive committee since the resignation of Tavares will continue in his role as executive president. Elkann is the stem of the prominent AGNnelli family of Europe that founded the Italian car manufacturer Fiat more than a century ago.
“Antonio’s deep understanding of our company, including its people who see how our main strength, and of our industry perfectly equips it for the role of executive director in this following and crucial phase of Stellantis’s development,” said Elkann.
Stellantis’s actions, which are quoted in Milan, fell almost 27% to date.
Philose was among a brief list of possible CEO candidates that also included three external candidates and Stellantis Maxime Picat acquisition chief, Reuters reported last month.
Philose plans to travel to the plants and offices of Stellantis worldwide in the next few days and weeks, according to the internal memo.
“I have always found strength to connect and work closely with colleagues. That will be more important than ever. I look forward to our work and the successes that this will bring in the future,” he said in the Memo.
Michael Bettenhausen, a concessionaire in Illinois and president of the Stellantis US Distributors Council, said there is still a lot of work to do with respect to new products and sales.
“Today it is about recognizing Antonio, but tomorrow we have a lot of work to do,” he said on Wednesday. “We need to work each other together and immerse ourselves in all problems here in North American operations, and we hope Antonio remains part of those discussions.”
Bettenhausen described Filosa as a “very intelligent and retail retail operator” who understands the business, including the need for new products to improve US sales of the company.
