Stellantis North America Chief Operating Officer and former Jeep CEO Antonio Filosa speaks during the Stellantis press conference at the Automobility LA 2024 car show at Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles on Nov. 21, 2024.
Etienne Laurent | Afp | Getty Images
Auto giant Stellantis on Wednesday appointed North American Chief Operating Officer Antonio Filosa as its new chief executive, ending a monthslong campaign to fill the firm’s leadership void.
The multinational conglomerate, which owns household names including Jeep, Dodge, Fiat, Chrysler and Peugeot, said it would hold an extraordinary shareholder meeting in the coming days for Filosa to be elected to the board to serve as an executive director.
Stellantis said Filosa would assume CEO powers effective June 23. He will succeed Carlos Tavares, who unexpectedly resigned in December after a sharp drop in profit, falling sales and problems in the U.S.
“It is my great honor to be named the CEO of this fantastic Company,” Filosa said in a statement, noting he takes over at a “pivotal time for our industry.”
Filosa, in an internal memo to employees Wednesday, said his “essential” focus as CEO will be “strengthening the bonds and trust we have with our partners — our dealers, suppliers, unions and communities.”
Mending relationships has been a priority for Filosa for much of the past year following a divide between many of Stellantis’ partners under Tavares, especially in the U.S.
A 25-year veteran of the company, Filosa previously served as Jeep brand CEO before being named North America COO in October 2024 and chief quality officer in January this year.
In addition to mending bonds, Filosa will need to balance the company’s investments in internal combustion engines and electric vehicles, while attempting to get the company’s finances back on track.
Stellantis recently reported a 14% year-on-year downturn in first-quarter net revenues and withdrew its full-year financial guidance due to uncertainties regarding the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s back-and-forth trade policy.
Uncertainty over trade tariffs is expected to profoundly affect the car industry, particularly given the high globalization of supply chains and the heavy reliance on manufacturing operations across North America.
Stellantis said John Elkann, who had led an interim executive committee since Tavares’ resignation, will continue in his role as executive chairman. Elkann is scion of Europe’s prominent Agnelli family that founded Italian carmaker Fiat more than a century ago.
“Antonio’s deep understanding of our Company, including its people who he views as our core strength, and of our industry equip him perfectly for the role of Chief Executive Officer in this next and crucial phase of Stellantis’ development,” Elkann said.
Shares of Milan-listed Stellantis are down nearly 27% year to date.
Filosa was among a short list of potential CEO candidates that also included three external candidates and Stellantis head of procurement Maxime Picat, Reuters reported last month.
Filosa plans to travel to Stellantis’ plants and offices across the world in the days and weeks ahead, according to the internal memo.
“I have always found strength in connecting and working closely with colleagues. That will be more important than ever. I look forward to our work together and the successes this will bring going forward,” he said in the memo.
Michael Bettenhausen, a dealer in Illinois and chair of the Stellantis U.S. dealer council, said there is still a lot of work to get done regarding new products and sales.
“Today it’s about recognizing Antonio but tomorrow we’ve got a lot of heavy lifting to do,” he said Wednesday. “We need to mutually work together and dive into all the issues here in the North American operations, and we look forward to Antonio still being a part of those discussions.”
Bettenhausen described Filosa as a “very smart, retail centric operator” who understands the business, including the need for new products to improve the company’s embattled U.S. sales.
