New Stellantis (STLA) Antonio Filosa knew he had his work cut out for him when he took over the job.
Filosa, 51, officially took over for former CEO Carlos Tavares on June 23, but he has been with the company for 25 years, and he understands that the international conglomerate doesn’t have much without the North American market.
Last month, the company announced that Filosa would be moving the CEO’s office to Detroit, Michigan, while also revealing that it will build a $388 million “Megahub” in Van Buren Township, just outside Detroit.
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But Stellantis is struggling with the 25% tariffs that have been in place for months now.
Stellantis shipped 7% fewer vehicles this year than it did in the first half of 2024. But somehow, that decline was better than the 14% decline it reported in the second half of 2024 during the time Tavares stepped down in October.
Stellantis says its “industrial costs” rose by 1.6 billion ($1.85 billion), including a net 330 million euros ($381 million) of tariff expenses.
The company expects its tariff expenses for the full year to be at the high end of its previous estimate of between 1 billion and 1.5 billion euros ($1.15 billion to $1.73 billion)
Getting the North American market back won’t be easy, but Filosa pinpointed exactly where he thinks the company lost its most important market.
Stellantis CEO knows where the company went wrong in North America
It will take more than money invested in the States to win back customers, and Filosa acknowledged this fact during the earnings call.
“For sure, one important root cause of our market deterioration, both in North America, especially, but also in Enlarged Europe, is the fact that in the past we decided to phase out many important, relevant, and successful nameplates,” Filosa said.
Filosa went on to name seven popular vehicles that were phased out during his predecessor’s tenure, including Jeep Cherokee, Jeep Renegade, Chrysler 300, Ram DS Classic, Ram ProMaster City, Dodge Charger and the Challenger.
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Those seven brands alone generated 300,00 units sold per year, but have all been inexplicably mothballed in recent years.
So not only will Stellantis bring back many of the brands that made Jeep, Dodge, Chrysler the iconic brand it was, the company is also bringing back the ancillary bells and whistles that defined American muscle.
“The powertrain that we have discontinued in the past that we have coming back, starting with the legendary Hemi V8 engine, has been shelved before and this means volumes, and this means margin per unit,” Filosa said.
Stellantis reports weak first-half results as tariffs turn last year’s profit negative
Earlier this year, Stellantis reported that total first-quarter 2025 U.S. sales decreased 12% year-over-year, despite a 16% increase in Ram brand sales and a 1% increase in Chrysler brand sales. Jeep brand sales saw a 2% increase.
The company reported total sales of 293,225 vehicles in the first three months of the year. Business did not improve in the second quarter.
On Tuesday, Stellantis reported that first-half net revenues fell 13% year over year, driven once again by declines in North America and Europe.
The company had a net loss of 2.3 billion euros ($2.66 billion) after reporting a 5.6 billion euro profit a year ago.
Stellantis closed Tuesday’s session down 1.13% to $9.59 per share.
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