Antonio Filosa, COO of Stellantis North America and CEO of Jeep, speaks during the Stellantis press conference at the Automobility LA 2024 auto show at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California, on November 21, 2024.
Etienne Laurent | AFP | fake images
DETROIT – Five years after the transatlantic automaker stellantis was formed through a merger, the business has not necessarily had the result that investors expected.
U.S. shares of the company, created through a $52 billion combination between Italian-American automaker Fiat Chrysler and France-based Groupe PSA on Jan. 16, 2021, are down about 43% over the past five years. Stocks listed in Italy have also lost approximately 40%.
Since shares of the combined company debuted on the New York Stock Exchange on January 19, 2021, days after the merger was completed, the automaker's shares were largely in the black (up 74% in March 2024) until Stellantis reported troubling financial results that year amid cost-cutting efforts aimed at supporting higher profits and its multibillion-dollar push into electric vehicles.
Many of those plans are being altered or eliminated under new Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa, who succeeded Carlos Tavares last summer. Tavares, a longtime automotive executive, is largely credited with forming the company, but he abruptly left Stellantis in December 2024.
Stellantis shares are listed in the United States and Italy.
Filosa is executing a sales recovery plan for the automaker and is particularly focused on its Jeep and Ram brands regaining share in the U.S. market after years of sales declines.
“The strategy we have in front of us is solid and will lead to growth if we execute it well,” he told reporters Wednesday during the Detroit Auto Show. “So, I think it's a year of execution.”
Filosa did not rule out the possibility of reorienting regionally or reducing the company's extensive brand portfolio, which also includes Italian brands Fiat and Alfa Romeo, which have not performed well domestically.
He said he believes the company should “stay together” after some speculation, including from Tavares, that it would be better to sell assets or brands.
Filosa said the next step in the company's plans will come during a meeting this month with more than 200 company executives that will focus on the upcoming capital markets day as well as company culture and execution in 2026.
PSA CEO Carlos Tavares and FCA CEO Mike Manley shake hands after signing a combined deal that will lead to the creation of the world's fourth-largest automaker in terms of annual sales (8.7 million vehicles).
FCA
Investors were eager to hear a new strategy for Stellantis after Tavares' departure. He left amid troubling sales and financial results as the company struggled to achieve profit margins of 10% or more and double net income under its “Dare Forward 2030” business plan.
Stellantis's U.S. shares since Filosa started as CEO on June 23 have risen 2%. They closed Friday at $9.60 per share, down 4.2%.
Filosa declined this week to discuss the company's past mistakes, but company executives previously told CNBC that Tavares' obsession with cost reductions and profits hurts the business, as well as the company's products, employees and relationships with suppliers, unions and distributors.
Filosa has spent much of its time trying to repair those ties, especially with the company's distressed franchise retailers in the United States. He also approved drastic changes to the company's product plans, including cutting prices and reprioritizing products away from electrified vehicles.
“In the six months, I see the changes we will make and need to make to create the bright future we need,” he said of his tenure so far as CEO.
