Stellantis, the automaking giant created by the merger of PSA Group and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, has tapped three Automotive News Europe Rising Stars for key posts.
Gaetano Thorel, Antonella Bruno and Maria Grazia Davino have all been given top-level positions on the Stellantis management team for Europe.
Thorel is the new head of the Fiat and Abarth brands. Thorel was part of the inaugural ANE Rising Stars Class in 2011.
Antonella Bruno
Soon after winning the award for his success as head of Ford Italy CEO Thorel was promoted to vice president of marketing at Ford of Europe. After more than 24 years at Ford he moved to FCA in 2016 then transitioned to PSA in 2018.
Having experience working within both corporate cultures will be beneficial as FCA and PSA come together.
Bruno will lead Jeep's operations in Europe. She was named an ANE Rising Star in 2015 when she was head of FCA's Lancia brand as well as Fiat's commercial vans.
Bruno led Lancia for more than seven years before taking responsibility for Jeep in Europe last summer. In addition, she served as FCA's head of network development and customer experience from 2017-20.
Maria Grazia Davino
Davino is now Stellantis' sales and marketing chief for Europe. She won an ANE Rising Star in 2017 for the work she was doing as FCA's managing director for Switzerland.
Her success there earned her responsibility for FCA's operations in Germany in 2018.
Davino served as FCA's boss for Germany, Switzerland and Austria until taking over her new job this month.
Stellantis is not the only company providing big promotions to ANE Rising Stars.
This week McLaren Automotive named Gareth Dunsmore its new chief marketing officer.
One of his tasks will be leading the supercar maker's transition toward electrification. Dunsmore is very familiar with the sector after serving for nearly four years as Nissan Europe's strategy director for EV.
His successful managing of the Leaf EV in Europe earned him an ANE Rising Star in 2018.
He moves to McLaren from his role as Nissan's vice president of brand and customer experience for Europe, Africa, India, the Middle East and Oceana.
Automotive News Europe will name its 11th Rising Stars Class in September. The award honors automotive executives with a pan-European profile who have driven change, fostered innovation and made courageous decisions.
