Stellantis looks to new leaders for North American comeback
Stellantis’ North American market share is slipping, but the automaker has a plan to turn the trend around — starting with a fresh leadership team.
In recent months, the company has announced several executive changes in the key market, including a new COO, new CEOs for Jeep, Dodge and Ram, and a new marketing lead.
Carlos Zarlenga, who was appointed COO of North America in February, touted the new hires during the Stellantis’ investor day presentation on June 13. He said Stellantis reorganized its sales team, adding more customer-facing resources than ever before.
Zarlenga also highlighted Stellantis North America’s most recent appointment: Rajoielle Register as senior vice president marketing.
“We just hired a new head of marketing for North America — we’re very, very excited about having her on board,” he said. “We think we’re going to be doing a lot of transformational stuff and that’s going to drive a big impact.”
As a part of Register’s hiring, Stellantis restructured its marketing, social and digital media, website, analytics and paid media operations, allowing for “centralized decision-making in support of a results-driven culture,” according to a press release.
However, during the presentation, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares also said there are two “key positions” that still need to be filled in North America.
“We will continue to reinforce our talent pool in North America to be able to compete with the best,” Tavares said.
Here’s a look at the recent executive changes in North America:
New appointments
- Rajoielle Register, senior vice president marketing, Stellantis North America, effective June 4
- Chris Feuell, Ram and Chrysler brand CEO, effective June 1
- Matt McAlear, Dodge brand CEO, effective June 1
- Carlos Zarlenga, North America COO, effective Feb. 1
- Antonio Filosa, Jeep brand CEO, effective November 2023
Departures
- Timothy Kuniskis, former Ram and Dodge brand CEO
- Jim Morrison, former head of Jeep Performance Parts
- Jason Stoicevich, former SVP of U.S. retail sales
- Berta Rodriguez-Hervas, former VP of of artificial intelligence, algorithms and ML ops
- Mark Stewart, former North America COO
- Christian Meunier, former Jeep brand CEO
Last month, Stellantis announced a handful of other changes to its global leadership team. The company named Luca Napolitano as chief sales and marketing officer; Olivier Bourges as chief customer experience officer; and Clara Ingen-Housz as head of global corporate office and public affairs. Bourges succeeded Richard Schwarzwald, former chief customer experience officer, who resigned in May.
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