New Stellantis  (STLA)  CEO Antonio Filosa knows the U.S. market well. 

It is one of the reasons the multinational automotive conglomerate picked Filosa to take over for Carlos Tavares.

Stellantis is the product of the 2021 merger between Fiat Chrysler — which owned the U.S. brands Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, as well as the European brand Fiat — and PSA Group.

Under Tavares, Stellantis laid off American factory workers, shuffled its C-suite, and forced its U.S. brands to push products that American customers didn’t like.

But when Filosa, 51, took over this summer, he made it a point to placate Stellantis’ U.S. fanbase. 

Dodge introduced its first electric pickup back in 2024.

Stellantis gets back to its American roots with new CEO

New Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa cut his teeth as Stellantis’ Chief Operating Officer of South America, where he has led its Fiat brand to much success while also boosting Peugeot, Citroën, Ram, and Jeep sales on the continent.

In June, 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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During the company’s quarterly earnings call, Filosa said that “one important root cause of our market deterioration” in North America is due to the fact that “in the past we decided to phase out many important, relevant, and successful nameplates.”

He 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.

Those seven brands alone generated 300,00 units sold per year, but have all been inexplicably mothballed in recent years. 

Ram is one of the popular brands that the company decided to keep in production, but now Stellantis is making a U-turn on the future of the pickup truck. 

Stellantis ends full-size Ram EV pickup dream

Filosa has promised to make cars that people want, which is why the company announced that it is shelving plans for the all-electric Ram 1500 REV pickup truck. 

Earlier this month, Stellantis said that demand for full-size battery electric trucks is slowing in North America, so it decided to pull the plug on crafting a full-size battery electric vehicle. 

Instead, it is renaming the range-extended electric vehicle Ramcharger to Ram 1500 REV. REEV vehicles are mostly battery-powered but have an internal combustion engine that gives them an extended range.

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On the other hand, Stellantis says the Ram 1500 REV will lead the brand’s electrification push, and the decision to launch REV “first was driven by overwhelming consumer interest, maintaining a competitive advantage in the technology and slowing industry demand for half-ton BEV pickups.”

Stellantis takes a step back in the tech race for advanced driver assistance

Last month, reports surfaced that Stellantis will shelve plans to develop the advanced driver-assistance system that is part of its AutoDrive program due to the high costs of developing the tech.

This is a sharp departure from what the company indicated earlier this year, when it said a program allowing users to take their hands off the wheel and off the road under certain conditions would be ready for deployment soon.

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Stellantis still says the program is ready to be launched, but it won’t be doing so.

“What was unveiled in February 2025 was L3 technology, for which there is currently limited market demand, so this has not been launched, but the technology is available and ready to be deployed,” a Stellantis spokesperson said.

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