Filosa takes helm at Jeep to revive dwindling sales

Stellantis has promoted Antonio Filosa as global CEO of its Jeep brand. He takes over from Christian Meunier, who held the position for four years. Currently, veteran Filosa is COO of the brand’s South American operations.

Filosa’s task will be to counter the negative sales trend at the brand. Despite an SUV-oriented product portfolio aimed at the heart of the market, Jeep’s growth falters. Sales have been down by 12% in the key US market since the beginning of the year. Compared to its record year, 2018, the iconic brand performs 30% worse.

CEO of Stellantis Carlos Tavares has been repeatedly quoted about the brand’s underperforming sales, blaming inadequate marketing and unadapted trim levels for the product lines. The change of leadership takes effect on the 1st of November, 2023.

Transformation process

Meunier focused on a transformation process at Jeep, gearing up the brand for electrification with plug-in hybrids and its first all-electric offer, the Avenger, which won the Car of the Year award last year.

Filosa has held several executive roles in the Latin American region for Fiat-Chrysler and after the merger with PSA when Stellantis was formed. He will be replaced by Emanuele Cappellano, who knows the Stellantis group as the previous CFO of the group in South America, a position he held until two years ago.

Image Source: Stellantis