Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa chooses the USA as Operational Base

With Antonio Filosa set to officially become Stellantis CEO on June 23, earlier this month it was announced that he has chosen to lead Stellantis from Detroit, Michigan.

This is a significant change that signals a turning point in the company’s strategic priorities: the North American market will be increasingly central to global operations.

There is a certain irony in Filosa’s decision to head Stellantis from the USA. He began his career at Fiat in 1999. He then held various leadership roles within the Fiat Group and later Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) before the merger that created Stellantis in 2021.

In recent years, Stellantis has often been criticized for giving greater attention to Europe, where it actually records the highest number of sales. However, it is in North America that the company achieves the highest profits, thanks to superior margins and the sale of high-value-added vehicles, particularly through brands like Jeep, Ram and Dodge. These three brands have deep roots in Detroit and at one time were integral brands within Chrysler.

It was Chrysler Corporation that merged with Mercedes-Benz’s parent company, Daimler-Benz, on May 7, 1998, to form DaimlerChrysler AG. While it was initially billed as a “merger of equals,” it became clear over time that Daimler held the dominant position. All major decision making was moved to Stuttgart, and and it was said around Detroit that in pronouncing the DaimlerChrysler name the Chrysler portion was silent.

The merger ultimately proved unsuccessful due to significant cultural clashes and other factors, and Daimler sold the majority of its stake in Chrysler in 2007 to the American private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management.

In 2009 After Chrysler filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, Fiat initially acquired a 20% stake in the newly formed Chrysler Group LLC as part of the restructuring and government bailout. Fiat steadily increased its ownership stake over the next five years and by the end of 2014 Fiat gained full ownership of Chrysler with the two companies officially merging to form Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA).

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and Groupe PSA (the parent company of Peugeot, Citroën, Opel, and Vauxhall) officially merged on January 16, 2021. The new combined company was named Stellantis and at the time CEO, Carlos Tavares announced that the headquarters would be in the Netherlands. Now there is sense among those “veterans” within what was once was FCA that a long overdue “take back” is about to occur as CEO directives will once again come from Detroit.

It was also announced that Filosa will maintain an international profile, with an active and constant presence in the main global markets, regularly visiting plants and operational headquarters on various continents, thus ensuring concrete and global leadership, in line with the multinational nature of the company.

Filosa, 52 years old, will be well compensated in his new role, though not quite as much as Tavares was paid. Filosa will receive a base salary of 1.8 million dollars annually, which with bonuses, incentives and performance-related awards could reach a maximum compensation of 23 million dollars per year.

How heading Stellantis from the USA will bode for its European brands may be a telling outcome for those such as Lancia, DS Automobiles, Maserati, Vauxhaul and dare we say Citroën. Even though Filosa’s background in the company commenced at Fiat, there is clearly a focus on making the North American brands of Stellantis great again!