Antonio Filosa, Stellantis North America COO and Jeep CEO, speaks at the Stellantis press conference at the AutoMobility LA 2024 car show held at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California on November 21, 2024.
Etienne Laurent | AFP | Getty Images
DETROIT — Five years after the transatlantic automaker. Stellantis was formed through a merger, but the business hasn’t always worked out as investors expected.
The company’s U.S. shares, created on Jan. 16, 2021 through a $52 billion merger between Italian-American automaker Fiat Chrysler and France-based Groupe PSA, have fallen about 43% over the past five years. Italian listed stocks are also down about 40%.
Since the combined company’s stock listed on the New York Stock Exchange on January 19, 2021, days after the merger was completed, the automaker’s stock price has been largely profitable (up 74% in March 2024) until Stellantis reported alarming financial results that year amid cost-cutting efforts to support growing profits and a multibillion-dollar push into electric vehicles.
Many of those plans are being changed or scrapped under Stellantis’ new CEO Antonio Filosa, who replaced Carlos Tavares last summer. Tavares, a longtime automotive industry executive, was credited with helping found the company, but he abruptly left Stellantis in December 2024.
Stellantis shares are listed in the United States and Italy.
Filosa is implementing a sales turnaround plan for the automaker, with a particular focus on helping the Jeep and Ram brands regain U.S. market share after years of declining sales.
“The strategy we have in front of us is a strong one and, if executed well, will lead us to growth,” he told reporters Wednesday during the Detroit Auto Show. “So I think this is going to be the year of execution.”
Firoza did not rule out the possibility of regionally refocusing or downsizing the company’s vast brand portfolio, which also includes Italian names Fiat and Alfa Romeo, which have underperformed domestically.
He said he believed the company should “continue to work together” after some speculation, including from Tavares, that it might be better off selling assets and brands.
Filosa said the next steps in the company’s plans will be announced at a conference this month with more than 200 company executives and will focus on upcoming capital markets days, company culture and execution in 2026.
PSA CEO Carlos Tavares and FCA CEO Mike Manley shake hands after signing a merger agreement that will create the world’s fourth-largest global automaker by annual sales (8.7 million vehicles).
FCA
Investors have been looking forward to Stellantis’ new strategy following Tavares’ departure. He stepped down amid struggling sales and financial results, even as the company was striving to achieve more than 10% profit margins and double net revenue under its “Dare Forward 2030” business plan.
Stellantis’ U.S. shares have risen 2% since Filosa took over as CEO on June 23. Friday’s closing price was $9.60 per share, a decline of 4.2%.
Mr. Filosa declined this week to address the company’s past mistakes, but company executives previously told CNBC that Mr. Tavares’ obsession with cost-cutting and profits has hurt not only its business, but also its products, employees, suppliers, unions and dealer relationships.
Filosa has spent much of his time trying to mend ties, especially with the company’s embattled U.S. franchised retailers. He also approved major changes to the company’s product plans, including lower prices and a re-prioritization of products away from electric vehicles.
“Over the past six months, we have seen the changes necessary to create the bright future we need,” he said of his tenure as CEO.
