Over the previous five years, Alfa Romeo was managed by two North American executives, first Reid Bigland, then Tim Kuniskis, and Imparato complimented them and their team for “managing to enter such a difficult market as the U.S., a market where nobody waits for you.”
But Alfa Romeo must be managed from Italy, he said, with a fully dedicated team. (Bigland and Kuniskis typically had other responsibilities.) He said his 49-person top management team is nearly 100 percent Italian now, and that 40 percent are female — an unprecedented level of gender diversity for any of the former FCA brands.
Dominique, who had a 20-year career at Nissan North America and ran TrueCar’s ALG, had been pondering an asset-light return to the U.S. for Peugeot as CEO of PSA North America. Now he will bring those insights to the Italian brand.
“He’ll lead Alfa Romeo and teach us how to navigate the U.S. market,” Imparato said.
Imparato said he was surprised by the brand’s high awareness — not just in Europe, but also in the U.S. and China. “Alfa Romeo has the potential to be the global premium brand of Stellantis,” he added.
Luca Ciferri contributed to this article.
