Nearly a half year after the unexpected resignation of Carlos Tavares, the founding chief executive of Stellantis, the Euro-American automaker has yet to name a replacement. But the search may be coming to an end, according to a new report which says Antonio Filosa, currently the head of Americas operations for Stellantis, has become the leading candidate.
Stellantis has yet to find a replacement for CEO Carlos Tavares.
With its self-imposed deadline fast approaching, Stellantis appears to have narrowed down the search for a new CEO, a new report by Bloomberg claims, with Antonio Filosa, currently chief operating officer of operations across the Americas, the top candidate.
Whoever is chosen will jump into a company that was already facing a variety of challenges when Carlos Tavares unexpectedly resigned as chief executive last December. The Euro-American automaker faced slowing sales, weakening revenues and earnings and other setbacks that many blamed Tavares for. Following his departure, day-to-day duties were temporarily assigned to Stellantis CEO John Elkann, the automaker promising to name a replacement within six months.
Stellantis recently reported another weak quarter, though it began showing positive signs in North America, it’s primary source of earnings, buoying Filosa’s reputation within the company, as well as outside among analysts and investors.
Who is Antonio Filosa?
Antonio Filosa has taken only lots of responsibilities since moving to the U.S.
Born in Naples, Italy, the 50-year-old Filosa’s roots within what is now Stellantis goes back more than a quarter-century. He joined what was then Fiat S.p.A. in 1999. Through a series of moves he landed on the fast track with then CEO Sergio Marchionne as he negotiated the deal that officially created Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in October 2014.
Filosa logged time in a variety of Latin American assignments after FCA was formed, eventually being named chief operating officer for all of South America. He joined the late Marchionne’s senior management team in 2018 and became one of the new leaders after Stellantis was formed three years later.
Filosa landed in the United States in September 2023, initially named to run the struggling Jeep brand. Following a broad U.S. shake-up last October, the Italian-born executive added the title of COO of the Americas to his resume.
As the executive’s official bio notes, “He assumed additional responsibility as Chief Quality Officer in February 2025,” a critical assignment in itself considering the routinely poor performance by most of the Stellantis brands in quality surveys in the U.S. and other markets.
What happens now?
Stellantis Chair John Elkann has been running the company since the unexpected resignation of Carlos Tavares last fall.
When Tavares retired suddenly last December, Chairman John Elkann took over day-to-day operations while the search for a new chief executive began. The company set a six-month timetable to come up with a replacement, that target coming up in barely a month.
Several potential candidates have popped up in media reports in recent months, including Michael Manley, the executive who was named CEO after Marchionne died suddenly on July 25, 2018. Some have also suggested Tim Kuniskis, a one-time star who had run brands including Dodge and Ram, might be under consideration. Kuniskis retired after an apparent falling out with Tavares but has since rejoined the company.
The person to beat, however, appears to be Filosa, said the Bloomberg report, something several of those close to the company echoed on background during conversations with Headlight.News. They gave him credit for turnaround plans laid out for North America. But that effort still has a long way to go. The company, which only reports U.S. sales on a quarterly basis, said Jeep suffered a 10% downturn in demand for the first quarter of 2025, Ram declining 26%. As a whole, U.S. sales for all Stellantis brands slipped 12% compared to the first three months of 2024. But demand showed a sudden surge in March.
More Stellantis News
- Shake-up Sends Once-Rising Stellantis Star Kuniskis into Retirement
- CEO Carlos Tavares’ Resignation Leaves Stellantis Rudderless
- Stellantis Shuffles the Deck as CEO Search Continues
More troubles coming
After returning to Stellantis, Tim Kuniskis is seen as a long-shot CEO candidate.
Earlier this month, Stellantis said its revenues for the first quarter were off 14%, global vehicle shipments, at 1.217 million dipping 9%. Revenues were off 14%, at 35.8 billion euros, or $40.3 billion.
Echoing several of its competitors, Stellantis postponed releasing updated guidance for the rest of 2025, the blame largely placed on the new auto tariffs officially enacted on May 3 by Pres. Donald Trump. Rivals including General Motors, Ford and Toyota have warned they expect the new trade sanctions to result in multi-billion-dollar hits this year.
There’s also concern that the U.S. may be sliding into a long-anticipated reception, with trade sanctions threatening to drag along many other global economic powerhouses.
Whether Filosa lands the top job at Stellantis or someone else is named CEO, they will need to be on point from the moment they start.
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