The global head of the Jeep brand will take over leadership of the key North American region for Stellantis, which is also replacing its chief financial officer.

The news came in an announcement Thursday evening as part of a management shakeup at the automaker, which is facing a range of struggles, including slipping U.S. sales, high inventory and fights with the UAW and dealers. The announcement also appeared to make clear that CEO Carlos Tavares will be retiring at the end of his contract in early 2026. An earlier statement had suggested he might stay longer even as the search for a successor was underway.

Board Chair John Elkann is also chair of a special board committee heading up the search, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2025, according to the news release.

“The board of directors is unanimous in its support of Carlos Tavares and for the decisive changes announced today. We are confident that these steps to simplify our organization will strengthen our leadership team as they work to restore the company’s performance to industry leading levels,” Elkann said in the release.

The other management changes are effective immediately, according to a news release.

Antonio Filosa, who currently runs the Jeep brand, will add chief operating officer of North America to his duties, replacing Carlos Zarlenga. Filosa served as the company's chief operating officer for South America before moving to Jeep last year. Zarlenga led Stellantis in Mexico before taking charge of the automaker's North American region when Mark Stewart left to lead Goodyear earlier this year.

The release said Zarlenga's next position would "be subject to a further announcement."

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The release noted that Filosa drove increased revenue, quality and market share in South America, and "brings a wealth of business and leadership experience to this new role."

Stellantis also named a new chief financial officer, Doug Ostermann, to replace Natalie Knight, who is leaving the company. She came to Stellantis last year from global food retailer Ahold Delhaize, where she had the same title.

The release noted that Ostermann has more than 19 years of experience in finance through three international groups, including Stellantis and another automaker, which was not named. A LinkedIn page that appears to be his lists experience at General Motors. Ostermann was most recently Stellantis China's chief operating officer.

Tavares highlighted what he expects to come from the changes.

“During this Darwinian period for the automotive industry, our duty and ethical responsibility is to adapt and prepare ourselves for the future, better and faster than our competitors to deliver clean, safe and affordable mobility. The newly appointed leadership team members will make their valuable contributions to our overall team’s determination to tackle the challenges ahead, reinforcing and accelerating our transformation to become the preferred mobility tech company," Tavares said in the release.

The release also announced several other changes:

• Jean Philippe Imparato is appointed chief operating officer for Enlarged Europe in addition to his role as CEO of Pro One, succeeding Uwe Hochgeschurtz who will leave the company.

• Gregoire Olivier is appointed as chief operating officer China and remains the liaison officer to Leapmotor, "leveraging his expert knowledge and experience of the Chinese market."

• Santo Ficili is appointed CEO of Maserati and Alfa Romeo and member of the Top Executive Team, "taking advantage of his extensive knowledge of the automotive sector and commercial operations. Davide Grasso’s next position will be subject to a further announcement."

Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Become a subscriber. Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Stellantis CFO on way out; Jeep boss to lead North American region