Stellantis, the new CEO Filosa reviews the strategic plan: priority to efficiency and key markets

This is the case of the first public appearance of Antonio Filosa as the new CEO of Stellantis, the world's fourth-largest carmaker by volume. And the message, launched on Wednesday to the group's staff and reported by Reuters, is unequivocal: "We have already started to review our long-term strategic plan, which we will share when we are ready."

A concise statement, but one that is destined to weigh heavily. Because it calls into question the foundations of the “Dare Forward 2030” plan, presented in March 2022 by predecessor Carlos Tavares. That ambitious plan aimed to double revenue by the end of the decade, maintain double-digit margins and fully convert European sales to electric, with a target of 50% in the United States. However, the reality of recent months has forced a reflection. The operational and commercial difficulties experienced in 2023, both in Europe and overseas, have forced Stellantis to revise its annual targets downwards. The result has been a change at the top and a clear desire to rewrite priorities.

Filosa, connected from Turin — a symbolic city for the group — chose a direct tone. And as a manager who grew up between Latin America and North America, with a very practical eye on the markets, he immediately showed that he wanted to align vision and reality. His approach, as internal sources have already reported, will be less ideological and more grounded: reviewing the plan today also means questioning the assumptions of the electric transition, in light of the structural difficulties that the supply chain is encountering.

The question, in fact, is not whether electric is the future — there are no second thoughts about that — but at what pace and with what margins. The group has invested billions of euros in EV platforms, gigafactories and reconversion of production plants. Yet, sales figures, especially in North America, are not responding with the expected speed. Inflation, production costs and uncertain public policies have slowed down demand, making it necessary to reevaluate targets and range strategies.

The issue, however, is not only technological . “Dare Forward 2030” also aimed to generate over 25% of sales in markets outside Europe and the USA. But today, this ambition clashes with a globalization that shows increasingly evident cracks, between duties, geopolitical tensions and logistical instability. The review of the plan will also pass through here: choosing where to grow, where to consolidate and where, perhaps, to take a step back.

Filosa's vision will be announced in the coming months, but a more "industrial" and less narrative line can already be glimpsed. Less storytelling, more numbers. Fewer objectives per slide, more concreteness of the factory. At stake is not only the stability of the group, but also the ability to hold together an ecosystem of 14 brands - from Fiat to Opel, from Peugeot to Jeep - with very different histories, markets and needs.

The symbolic return to Turin , not by chance, is a signal of identity. Stellantis is a group born from a merger, but to survive — and grow — it will have to build a new cohesion. Filosa is aware of this, and with this first announcement he has chosen the path of reality: recalibrate now so as not to chase tomorrow.