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Detroit – “Mediocrity is not worth the trip.”
It was part of Stelllantis The first public message from CEO Antonio Filosa after being appointed to lead the world car manufacturer. It was a mantra of decades in preparation, because he spent 25 years traveling the ranks of the company, from a role of supervisor of the night painting workshop in Spain.
THE Quote also referenced The CEO of the late Fiat Chrysler, Sergio Marchionne, a mentor of Filosa, venerated in the company. Marchionne died unexpectedly in 2018, years before the merger of the car manufacturer to form Stellantis, the parent of brands such as Jeep, Ram, Fiat and Chrysler.
Several former and current leaders and employees of Stellantis who worked with Filosa underlined its link with Marchionne during the floor with CNBC. They also described it as a engaging collective leader who knows the company well, factory floors at the offices of the C Suite C, but which faces a multitude of challenges and tests to come.
While Filosa officially presents himself in the role of CEO on Monday, he will have to channel Marchionne – considered a dynamic framework and a thinker who saved the Italian automaker Fiat and American Chrysler – to succeed in shooting the besieged car manufacturer.
The most recent CEO, Carlos Tavares, who led the merger to form Stellantis, Suddenly resigned in December In the midst of disagreements with the company’s board of directors, sales drops per year and a 70% drop in net profit last year. He, like Marchionne, was considered a dynamic CEO of those inside and outside the company, but many thought that he concentrated too much on cost reductions, to the detriment of the company.
In addition to financial problems, industry experts said Filosa will have to continue to repair obligations with dealerships, politicians and employees who were damaged during Tavare’s mandate. And it will have to manage the company’s investment plans between traditional vehicles and “electrified” models such as hybrids and electric vehicles.
“We have to manage the transition, right?” It is not a secret that electric vehicles will (a) (a) a strong part of the future, right? Not only for Stellantis, but for the automotive industry itself, ”Filosa, then the chief of the Americas, then Stellantis ,, told journalists in January. “Rhythm and speed, probably something that should be slightly reassessed.”
Filosa, at the time, said that it would be on the new CEO to decide the rhythm. He described the problems of the company as “a multitasking challenge” for anyone who would name the council, which was ultimately him.
“Multitasking challenge”
Filosa, a relatively young CEO at 51, started the soil since Tavares promoted it from the CEO of Jeep to the chief of the operations of the Stellantis Americas, where he prioritized the binding compensation obligations.
The employees were distraught by cuts and layoffs, while the company’s franchise retailers were livides on Stellantis sales and losses of market share under tavares. The National Council of Stellantis dealerships in September wrote a Unprecedented open letter Condemn Tavares’ actions.
“Your own distribution network, your concessionary body, has been left in an anemic and decreased state,” wrote Kevin Farrish, a virginia merchant who directed the Council, in the letter.
Michael Bettenhausen, an Illinois merchant who succeeded Farrish, a spoken with emotion of filosa But said there was still a lot of work to do.
“We have to work mutually and dive into all the problems here in North American operations, and we look forward to that Antonio is still part of these discussions,” he said.
Global sales of Stellantis under Tavares fell by 12.3% against 6.5 million in 2021 – The year of company training – for 5.7 million in 2024. This included a collapse of around 27% in the United States during this period at 1.3 million vehicles sold. The automaker has gone from the fourth sales in the United States to the sixth, from market share from 11.6% to 8% during this period.
Filosa – Originally from Naples, Italy – said in January that the top priority for the United States was to increase the retail market share, which includes sales to customers as opposed to those with fleets or businesses.
“We have to do it. It is not a belief; it is a need,” he said. “The retail market share in the United States really measures your ability to organically (growth sales).”
The automaker remains in a shortage of products, lowering its overall sales by around 12% in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period a year earlier. The company refused to publish its retail sales of the year.
But new products such as the next redesigned Jeep Cherokeeadditional Ram 1500 van The models and a new gas loading dodge should increase sales, as well as the upper line of the car manufacturer.
Stellantis’ income has increased since the training of the company but dropped 17.2% from one year to the next in 2024 to 156.9 billion euros (180.6 billion dollars), while other car manufacturers such as General Motors And Ford engine Given notable increases in their upper line.
“Filosa is entering the role of the CEO in the midst of important challenges for the company,” wrote Tom Narayan, analyst of the RBC capital markets, in an investor note on May 28. “Its immediate priorities include revitalization of the company’s performance on the American market, the rationalization of the vast portfolio of 14 brand of Stellantis and the repair of tense relations with dealers, unions and governments.”
‘A logical choice’
The appointment of Filosa to the CEO has been considered a safe “logical choice” for the automotive manufacturer when he tries to solve his self-inflicted problems, as well as as a regulatory uncertainty such as global rates and economic concerns, according to the initiates of the industry and the observers.
“I think it’s a logical and credible choice”, Tavares Tell Bloomberg At the end of May, during his first interview with International Media since leaving the company. “I hope it will be properly supported by the board of directors. So let’s see.”
Since he was Announced as CEO On May 28, Filosa visited numerous factories of the automaker in the United States, Canada and Europe. He was allegedly chosen following a six -month search which included other internal and external candidates.
His public comments concerning his new position painted him as a humiliated and grateful framework which is proud to connect with people.
“I am really honored to be appointed CEO of this big company, Stellantis. It’s my house for 25 years. This place is in my blood,” he said May 28 Linkedin PostReference to Marchionne.
A handful of current and former leaders of Stellantis have described Filosa as a “engaging leader” and an “listener” who is particularly comfortable inside plants and to speak with employees – a bit like Marchionne.
“I worked side by side with him.” He is a person of the people. He is a visionary, he is under tension, he is young … And he is curious. He is a large listener. I love his problem solving capacities, and for me, he likes design. “
Marchionne would qualify its leaders as “children”, many of whom, like Gilles and Filosa, appointed to their first high -level management positions. Still others with Stellantis include CEO of Ram Tim Kuniskis And Olivier François, director of marketing.
“Antonio is great,” Kuniskis said, who was not retired after a seven -month interruption last year, CNBC told CNBC. “He is one of the driving forces for me who wants to come back.”
Stellantis financial director Douglas Ostermann, earlier this month, praised the history of filosa in the manufacture and construction of the company’s Latin American business, which has remained a high profitability region for the company.
“It is a very open leader who, I think, works really well with the organization, through people, through brands, a kind of relationship builder,” Ostermann said at a Bernstein event.
During the appointment of Filosa, Bernstein analysts of an investor note described him as a “pair of safe hands” but a relatively uninspired choice for investors compared to an external rental such as ex-Apple The financial director Luca Maestri, whom the company would have considered.
“I think investors were very enthusiastic about bringing someone outside,” Bernstein analyst Daniel Roeska told CNBC. “Not that there is nobody inside, but after a kind of so great mixture, investors thought that the idea of bringing something from the outside was good.”
Filosa did not have much experience in such a publicized role, unlike Marchionne and Tavares, which have been tested by car veterans. It has gone through the Latin American operations of the company and has only served a short time in North America – its most crucial market. Although the Italian, he also has a limited working time in Europe, the second largest region of the car manufacturer.
Two sources that have agreed to talk about the state of anonymity to be able to speak freely also said that it was a nose for the chief of Grundone who can sometimes demand, similar to his predecessors and other CEOs.
Filosa will also have to restore the confidence of investors, which Marchionne and Tavares were comfortable. Three sources, including two initiates of the company, said that he did not yet have the prowess of the CEO as his predecessors, which could come with experience.
UBS analyst, Patrick Hummel, noted in a financial note last month that the interaction of Filosa with the financial community was also “limited” to a Capital market day in June 2024.
Investors did not react strongly to the choice of the CEO, depending on the company’s action. When Filosa was announced as CEO on May 28, the actions listed in the United States of the action fell 3.2%. Since then, shares have been down around 10% in the middle of a litany of external factors.
The daily drop in shares is in fact similar to that as long as Marchionne comments on “mediocrity” on the first day of investors of the company after combining Chrysler and Fiat to make “Fiat Chrysler Automobiles” or FCA, on May 6, 2014. The shares dropped by 3.9% that day.
Marchionne, a major in philosophy who was known for his clever remarks, discussed upcoming challenges for the car manufacturer and the evolution of the automotive industry, in particular by chasing non -profitable businesses – that Filosa and Stellantis must continue to approach.
“I told you this morning that our FCA culture responds better when it is faced with a goal and a challenge,” said Marchionne. “And our plan has a goal because when everything is said and everything is done, mediocrity is not worth the trip.”
