Stellantis names Antonio Filosa as its new CEO

Franco-Italian-US carmaker Stellantis on Wednesday named Antonio Filosa, the Italian head of its North American operations, as its new CEO, effective from June 23.

Filosa, 51, will be expected to focus on the challenging task of reviving Stellantis' fortunes, specially in its key US market, after it suffered a 70% drop in net profit and a €6bn (R137.47bn) cash burn in 2024.

"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.

Filosa will also need to rein in Stellantis sprawling 14-brand portfolio — with analysts and experts thinking the carmaker should terminate or sell some of them — and complete a process to restore the group's fraught relations with dealers, unions and governments.

He succeeds Carlos Tavares, who quit the group in December after sharp drops in profits and sales raised questions about his management. Since then, the carmaker has been provisionally led by its chair John Elkann, a scion of the Agnelli family that founded Fiat, now part of Stellantis.

The Agnellis are Stellantis' single largest investor through their family holding company Exor. The group's other brands include Peugeot and Jeep.

Having exceeded €27 (R549) early last year, Stellantis's Milan-listed shares shed more than two thirds of their value in the next 12 months.

Stellantis was created in early 2021 through the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot's owner PSA, with Tavares, the former PSA head, as its first CEO.

Filosa has been leading Stellantis in North America since October.

In 2023 he was also appointed global head of Jeep, one of Stellantis key brands, a role he quit this year when, as part of a wider management reshuffle, he was also given the additional role of Stellantis global chief for quality.

An Italian national, Filosa was born in the southern city of Naples, spent his youth in the region of Puglia in the south, and graduated in engineering from Milan's Polytechnic. Married to a Brazilian architect, he is the father of two sons and has a passion for water polo.

He joined Fiat Group in 1999, where he covered several roles, predominantly in Latin America, becoming Fiat Chrysler chief in the region in 2018. He then served as Stellantis COO for South America.

Despite his Fiat background and Italian nationality, he has hardly ever worked in Italy and can offer the global profile the Stellantis board had been looking for to address issues at the multinational carmaker.

His recent years as head of Stellantis' North American business can also prove an asset in dealing with US President Donald Trump's administration and respond to its tariff policies.