Stellantis management: More than the sum of PSA and FCA's parts

TURIN --The 43 Stellantis executives named this week by CEO Carlos Tavares largely come from similar positions at PSA Group and Fiat Chrysler, but the new group’s leadership structure will be much more than the sum of two parts.

Instead, it will be an evolution of the three-dimensional matrix – involving brands, regions and cross-company functions – that was in place at FCA and PSA starting in 2014. Stellantis’ 45 top-level positions (one remains open and two are currently filled by one person) compare with 22 at FCA and 18 at PSA. 

Tavares, in an exclusive interview with Automotive News Europe sister publication Automotive News, said he worked for "many months" to assemble the Stellantis leadership team.

He has appointed leaders for brands, regions and functions, in roles such as CFO (Richard Palmer from FCA), head of Europe (Maxime Picat from PSA) and CEO of Peugeot (Linda Jackson from PSA). 

But he has also named a five-person Strategic and Performance Committee that may not play a direct role in day-to-day operations. 

It’s not clear to what degree it would replace PSA’s four-person management board, which had a close grip on operations and consisted of Tavares, Picat, Opel/Vauxhall CEO Michael Lohscheller and Olivier Bourges, head of programs and strategy.   

Stellantis’s Strategic and Performance committee includes the new position of chief software officer, former DS Automobiles CEO Yves Bonnefont, who like Jackson, has spent the last year working on the merger project. The appointment elevates the strategic importance of software – essential for technologies such as electrification, connectivity and autonomous driving -- at Stellantis, which other automakers such as Volkswagen have already done.

There is also a chief affiliates officer, PSA CFO Philippe de Rovira, who will be in charge of financing, used cars, parts and service, and retail network, signaling the importance of these less-glamorous revenue streams at the highest level of Stellantis.

On the regional side, there is a shuffling of responsibilities compared with PSA (five regional chiefs) and FCA (four). Mike Manley, the former FCA CEO, becomes head of Americas – but sits on the Strategic and Performance committee. 

The heads of North America (Mark Stewart) and South America (Antonio Filosa) sit below him, as regional COOs. Picat, also a regional COO, is head of an enlarged Europe that now includes Eurasia (similar to Toyota Europe), has two deputies. Carl Smiley of FCA, head of India (key for Citroen and Jeep brands) and Asia Pacific, has a deputy to oversee the ASEAN countries.

Samir Cherfan of PSA heads up Middle East and Africa, where the French side has been historically strong and has a key production hub in Morocco. (FCA had put those regions in with Europe.) China – a crucial trouble spot for Tavares -- is in flux, with Gregoire Olivier of PSA named only as interim chief. 

On the regional side, there is a shuffling of responsibilities compared with PSA (five regional chiefs) and FCA (four). Mike Manley, the former FCA CEO, becomes head of Americas – but sits on the Strategic and Performance committee. 

The heads of North America (Mark Stewart) and South America (Antonio Filosa) sit below him, as regional COOs. Picat, also a regional COO, is head of an enlarged Europe that now includes Eurasia (similar to Toyota Europe), has two deputies. Carl Smiley of FCA, head of India (key for Citroen and Jeep brands) and Asia Pacific, has a deputy to oversee the ASEAN countries.

Samir Cherfan of PSA heads up Middle East and Africa, where the French side has been historically strong and has a key production hub in Morocco. (FCA had put those regions in with Europe.) China – a crucial trouble spot for Tavares -- is in flux, with Gregoire Olivier of PSA named only as interim chief. 

All of Stellantis’ 14 brand leaders (12 automotive, two mobility) have been elevated to the same status, whereas PSA had five and FCA had four represented in the Group Executive Council (Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Jeep and Maserati). Newcomers to the top level include the heads of Chrysler, Dodge, Lancia and Ram, as well as FCA’s Leasys (financing).

A significant addition to the functions level is design, which was a level report at FCA but not at PSA. Stellantis has two top design bosses: Ralph Gilles from FCA, who oversees Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Maserati and Fiat Latin America (which has its own models); while Jean-Pierre Ploue from PSA will supervise Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Citroen, DS, Fiat, Lancia, Opel/Vauxhall and Peugeot.

The only open position on the functions level, chief technical officer, is a critical one. FCA’s CTO, Harald Wester, becomes head of engineering at Stellantis. PSA’s CTO, Nicholas Morel, now serves as one of two deputies to Wester. The fact that such an important position remains unfilled suggests that Tavares could be looking outside the PSA-FCA talent pool or even from outside the auto industry.

Where Stellantis is all but stellar is in gender representation. FCA had one woman out of 19 top executives, PSA three of 18: Stellantis grows to five -- but among 44 top positions.

Finally, some math on the origin of the top representatives at Stellantis:

• On the Strategic and Performance committee, three are from PSA and two from FCA
• On Functions, 10 from PSA and five from FCA
• On Regions, five from PSA and four from FCA
• On Brands, eight from FCA and six from PSA   

Overall, 25 executives, including Tavares, come from the PSA side and 18 from FCA (Timothy Kuniskis appears twice as he represents two brands, Dodge and Chrysler).