Stellantis $STLA ( ▲ 5.5% ) just named longtime designer Scott Krugger to shape the future look of its North American brands, stepping into a newly created role as head of design for the region.
Driving the news: According to a Stellantis release from yesterday, Krugger will oversee design direction for Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram, reporting directly to Antonio Filosa, CEO of Stellantis and COO of Stellantis North America.
And he’s got the chops to back it up.
Per the release, Krugger’s been with the company since 2001, rising through senior design roles across both North America and Europe.
That includes leading design for Alfa Romeo, Jeep, and UX at the company’s EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) studio.
And time spent directing exterior design for Dodge and SRT vehicles in the U.S.
But why now: Krugger’s appointment comes just a week after Stellantis tapped Gilles Vidal to head design for its European brands. Both moves, according to Stellantis, are part of Chief Design Officer Ralph Gilles’ broader overhaul of the company’s global design structure.
Gilles (who also reports directly to Filosa) is rolling out a new framework aimed at blending regional independence with global collaboration.
What they’re saying: “This is calibrated to efficiently combine global expertise across Stellantis’ portfolio of 14 iconic vehicle brands, with strong regional autonomy to ensure continued alignment with local customer needs,” the release said.
Between the lines: Stellantis has been reshaping its leadership playbook since earlier this year, when CFO Doug Ostermann outlined plans to rebuild market share with a leaner, more localized org chart.
At the time, he said the company was focused on “pushing down a lot of the decision-making within the organization into the regions” to better match local demand, and was already operating with a smaller executive team.
We’re talking just nine execs at the table, down from nearly 30 in 2024.
Why it matters: As we’ve reported, Stellantis ended 2024 with sluggish sales, unhappy dealers, and a notably weaker market share. The decision to scale back its executive team was one of the first major efforts at undoing that damage.
However, the first half of 2025 has been difficult for just about every OEM out there. Which doesn’t help Stellantis’ rebound.
Stellantis just noted a net loss of $2.6 billion, compared with a $6.4 billion profit in the first half of 2024, according to earnings reports.
Also, total revenues were down 13% at $86 billion when compared with the first half of 2024.
What we’re watching: The executive cuts in March kicked off a clear reset. Now, Krugger’s appointment, and others like it, tell us Stellantis is looking to put real muscle behind its regional strategy. Add to that Filosa’s presence, and a new (stronger) era of Stellantis might be closer than we think.
“My first weeks as CEO have reconfirmed my strong conviction that we will fix what’s wrong in Stellantis by capitalizing on everything that’s right in Stellantis—starting from the strength, energy, and ideas of our people, combined with the great new products we are now bringing to market,” Filosa said.
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