New boss for Peugeot in Stellantis management shake-up

Peugeot CEO Linda Jackson will retire after an illustrious 48-year career in the car industry.

The inaugural winner of Autocar’s Great Women award, Jackson rose to prominence during a 15-year stint with Citroën, during which she progressed from the brand’s UK finance director all the way to CEO – a position she held from June 2014 to June 2020.

During that time, she oversaw the development of radical new models including the Ami, successfully pushing the French brand into new segments and ultimately broadening its appeal.

Thereafter, she was named executive vice-president of Stellantis precursor the PSA Group and, following the merger of PSA and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, became CEO of Peugeot. She has held that position for the past four years.

Jackson has been instrumental in repositioning Peugeot, driving it upmarket and launching a range of hybrid and electric models to rival powerhouses such as Volkswagen.

In 2022, the 208 supermini was Europe’s best-selling car, beating the Volkswagen Golf. And last year, Peugeot was Europe’s eighth-best-selling brand, growing its volumes by 1% year-on-year and beating the likes of Ford, Opel-Vauxhall and Nissan.

The news of Jackson’s retirement was confirmed to Autocar by a spokesperson for Stellantis after the company announced new leaders for several key brands, including Peugeot.

Alain Favey, previously the CEO of rental company Europcar, has been named the new leader of Peugeot; Jeep’s US brand chief Bob Broderorf has been promoted to CEO of the 4x4 maker; commercial vehicles senior vice-president Xavier Peugeot has been appointed CEO of DS; and Anne Abboud has been promoted from global sales chief of Stellantis’s van unit to its CEO. 

Stellantis also established a new product and technology arm – led by its tech boss, Ned Curic – to accelerate software development.

In addition, a central marketing office has been set up to co-ordinate the promotion of each Stellantis brand. It will be led by Fiat and Abarth CEO Olivier François.

The moves are intended to “further simplify our organisation” and “increase our local agility”, Stellantis chairman John Elkann said in a statement.

Stellantis added that it would appoint a new overall CEO to replace Carlos Tavares by the end of June.