PARIS -- Citroen has named Laurent Diot, now head of marketing and communications at Abarth, as director of the enlarged Europe region, which includes Eastern Europe, the Balkan states and Eurasia.
Diot will report to new Citroen CEO Thierry Koskas operationally; and functionally to the director of Stellantis’ European region, Uwe Hochgeschurtz.
His immediate task will be to regain market share in Europe. Koskas said recently that his target is 5 percent by the end of 2023.
Citroen’s current share is 4.3 percent following a sales slump last year, which executives have largely attributed to logistics issues.
A graduate of L’Ecole Centrale Paris, Diot joined Renault Group in 1997, and held international management positions in sales, marketing and business development, including CEO of Renault Portugal and managing director for Monaco. He was named marketing director for France in 2020.
Diot joined Stellantis in October 2021 in his role at Abarth, based in Turin.
Koskas, who is also head of sales and marketing for the Stellantis group, was named CEO of Citroen this spring, replacing Vincent Cobee. Citroen is planning to renew its best-selling model, the small C3, with an electric-focused version.
