At Stellantis, new boss Antonio Filosa looks to the United States

Stellantis is a multinational corporation with a carefully crafted geopolitical balance. The result of the merger of the French PSA (Peugeot, Citroën, Opel) and Italian-American Fiat-Chrysler groups in 2021, the world's fourth-largest automaker announced its new internal balance on Monday, May 23, by unveiling its new leadership team. The result: America first!

The Carlos Tavares page has been turned. The Franco-Portuguese boss, who led the creation of this industrial giant and led his shareholders to record margins through cost-cutting plans , was forced out in November 2024 after very poor management of American brand vehicle inventories in the United States, leading to a drop in profits.

His ouster, announced by the group's chairman John Elkann, a descendant of the Agnelli family, founders of Fiat and manager of their financial holding company Exor, had symbolised a shift in power from PSA to Fiat-Chrysler, the Agnellis being the largest shareholders with 14.2% of the capital.

The appointment of Antonio Filosa as CEO of Stellantis at the end of May confirmed the multinational's pivot towards the United States. Especially since the group's purchasing director, Maxime Picat, who was once tipped to take over the reins of the fourteen-brand group, has just packed his bags to, perhaps, take the reins of Renault after the surprise departure of its CEO Luca de Meo .

While Europe represents the group's largest market in terms of volume, North America is its largest region in terms of profits. However, these profits plunged last year. Antonio Filosa, former head of Jeep, the only American brand other than Tesla to have performed well in recent years, has become head of Stellantis for North and South America and has already been praised by the multinational's board of directors for having "significantly reduced excessive dealer inventories, reorganized the management team, led the introduction of new products and powertrains, and intensified dialogue with dealers, unions , and suppliers."

He will have to manage another important issue: the increase in US tariffs on imports. Will the creator of the Brazilian gigafactory in Pernambuco, Brazil, which is supposed to supply South America, have to organize the repatriation of part of the production of the Mexican Stellantis factories to the United States under pressure from Donald Trump?

Europe will not, however, be out of his sights. Antonio Filosa must deal with the Takata airbag scandal and the Puretech engine fiasco. Above all, he must accelerate the deployment of affordable electric vehicles. The launch of the Fiat Grande Panda, a hybrid and electric vehicle, on Tuesday, June 24 in Turin, Italy, should symbolize this acceleration, which Carlos Tavares had already envisioned with the launch of the Citroën C3.

Stellantis's new strongman nevertheless gave assurances to his French shareholders: the Peugeot family (7.1%) and the French government (6.1%). His first site visit was to Peugeot's historic factory in Sochaux (Doubs). Announced this Monday, his new Stellantis management team, known as the "SLT" (Stellantis Leadership Team), comprises twelve people, including six French, three American, and three Italian.

Among the "Frenchies," Jean-Philippe Imparato continues to lead the Europe and European Brands region. Philippe de Rovira will manage the "Rest of the World" region and Stellantis's financial services. Sébastien Jacquet, a veteran of PSA engineering, remains global director of quality.