MILAN/DETROIT/PARIS, (Reuters) – New Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa is prioritising vehicle sales growth over profits including resorting to lower-margin fleet sales and investing in affordable models to recapture market share in North America and Europe and get the world’s No. 4 automaker back on track, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Filosa, who took over in June, has launched what one source described as an “emergency room” operation to fix the mess left by his predecessor Carlos Tavares – who sought high margins through a combination of cost-cutting and price hikes that sparked a customer exodus.
Tavares was forced out late last year as Stellantis’ 2024 sales plunged 15% in the U.S. – the automaker’s main profit driver – while industrywide sales rose 2.2%, leaving dealers choking on stale inventory.
Filosa’s immediate aim is to deliver sales and revenues this year above low analyst expectations – the best of which indicate flat results versus 2024 – the same source said.
Early data suggests his strategy is beginning to work, as Stellantis’ sales rose 6% in North America in the third quarter, the first increase in eight quarters.
Details of Filosa’s short-term sales strategy and longer-term brand viability, reported here for the first time, come at a time when the automaker is fighting to regain lost market share.
The plans are aimed at restoring credibility with customers, investors and dealers while also keeping car factories running.
Reuters spoke to a total of six sources – two company insiders, two outsiders familiar with the matter and two representatives at major Stellantis shareholders – who spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
Stellantis’ strategy is rolling out at a time when the auto industry is adapting to U.S. tariffs, while struggling with the expensive transition to electric cars and aggressive Chinese competition.
Under Filosa “Stellantis is accelerating actions… to correct past strategic and operational decisions,” a company spokesman said.
The plan has the backing of major investors – the Agnelli family’s Exor (EXOR.AS), opens new tab, the Peugeot family and the French government -, three sources said.
Filosa’s tactics include resorting to U.S. fleet sales – lower-margin sales to rental companies, corporations and government agencies that automakers have historically used to offload inventory and pad sales figures, an industry source said, while Stellantis is also investing in the profitable Jeep and Ram models customers want.
Filosa is also working on a longer-term problem his predecessor left unresolved: figuring out which of Stellantis’ sprawling collection of 14 brands – also including Fiat, Peugeot, Citroen and Maserati – have a viable future, the first source said.
The company will also drop ambitious EV sales targets as Filosa makes the U.S. market his top priority, unlike Tavares, who went in the “opposite direction”, a source inside Stellantis said.
“Filosa absolutely understands what North America brings to the company,” said Sam Fiorani, Vice President at research firm AutoForecast Solutions.
BACK TO BASICS WITH A FOCUS ON POPULAR JEEP BRANDS AND AFFORDABILITY
Formed in early 2021 through the merger of Fiat Chrysler and France’s Peugeot maker PSA, Stellantis had bold ambitions to dominate future automotive technology as the world went electric.
But the automaker slashed costs and cut popular models like the Jeep Cherokee in the U.S. market to provide the double-digit margins former CEO Tavares promised Stellantis shareholders.
Stellantis priced its vehicles too high for customers and allowed rivals like Ford’s (F.N), opens new tab Bronco to eat into the Jeep brand’s market share.
The company’s U.S. market share dropped below 8% so far this year – its lowest on record for Stellantis, and Fiat Chrysler before it, according to car-shopping firm Edmunds – from 12.5% in 2020.
