With software increasingly embedded in cars, remote maintenance promises to make workshop visits a thing of the past. Yet, ironically, remote management within automakers is retreating. „Local for Local“ has become the mantra – not just on the production line, but in development and leadership too. The era when foreign markets served as training grounds for homegrown managers is rightly over. Stellantis is now taking this logic one step further. New CEO Antonio Filosa will run the French-Italian company headquartered in the Netherlands from the United States.

Given Stellantis’s disastrous performance in the US, this move looks more like a necessity than a choice. The US market, once a reliable cash cow, has turned into a headache. In 2022, Stellantis ranked a respectable fourth with 11% market share, trailing GM, Toyota, and Ford. Since then, while rivals held or slightly increased their shares, Stellantis plunged to just 8%, and has been overtaken by Hyundai/Kia and Honda.

It’s cold comfort that other European carmakers fare worse in the States. Repeated efforts to steer US operations from Europe have flopped – especially in the mass market, where buyers favour local tastes far more than premium customers do. Volkswagen’s many failed attempts underline the challenge of calling American trends from Wolfsburg.

Filosa, however, has yet to prove he can turn things around. Responsible for the Americas since November 2023, 2024 was Stellantis’s weakest year in the region yet. Even Jeep stumbled under his watch. The board’s plan to give the US market more prominence with Filosa at the helm is sound in theory. But Filosa still has to prove that he brings more to the table than just the right ZIP code.