Alfa Romeo CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato is reorganizing the global leadership of the struggling Stellantis brand, with new roles for executives from Italy, France and the U.S.
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares has tasked Imparato, the former head of the Peugeot brand, with reviving Alfa Romeo sales and also generating synergies and developing joint models among the group's premium brands Alfa Romeo, DS and Lancia.
Among the main appointments announced Friday:
- Daniel Guzzafame, who has worked at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles since 2006, will be head of products, reporting to Imparato.
- Arnaud LeClerc, a veteran of Honda and PSA Group, will be head of brand strategy and performance, reporting to Imparato.
- Roberta Zerbi, who has worked at Ford, Toyota and FCA, is responsible for Alfa Romeo and Lancia Europe
- Larry Dominique, who had been leading a potential PSA return to the U.S. market, is head of Alfa Romeo North America, reporting to Imparato and Mark Stewart, Stellantis' North America COO. Before joining PSA, Dominique spent 22 years at Nissan and Infiniti, where he was vice president for product planning and strategy for Nissan Americas. Tavares was chairman of Nissan North America when Dominique worked at Nissan.
- Massimiliano Trantini, the current president of Fiat's China joint venture with GAC, is appointed director of Alfa Romeo China.
- Erica Ferraioli, who has worked at Lamborghinia and FCA, will be responsible for Alfa Romeo and Lancia pricing.
Alfa Romeo has been the focus of multiple relaunch plans over the last 15 years, none of which has generated lasting results.
Its current range has been reduced to the Giulia midsize sedan and Stelvio midsize SUV, after production of the Giulietta compact hatchback was stopped in December.
Alfa's global vehicle sales from January to September declined by 39 percent to just 41,116 units, according to figures from JATO Dynamics. Full-year sales in Europe (EU plus EFTA countries and the UK) fell 32 percent in 2020 to 36,526 units, figures from the trade group ACEA show.
The brand has not released annual global sales figures, but according to the FIM-CISL metalworkers union, production of Giulietta, Giulia and Stelvio models at the Cassino plant, in southern Italy, declined 9 percent in 2020 to 53,422 units.
Alfa Romeo has several models in its product plan, including a new compact SUV based on the Tonale concept expected this year, and a small SUV to be built in Poland alongside Jeep and Fiat siblings on a PSA Group platform.
It's unclear what the appointment of Dominique means for PSA's planned U.S. comeback, which was to start with mobility services and had a goal of selling Peugeot brand vehicles.
PSA's return to the U.S. market after 30 years was complicated by the December 2019 agreement to merge PSA with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to create Stellantis, because it gave the new group a strong North American presence to complement Europe-dependent PSA.
