stellentis Fiat Chrysler has hired Amir Ahmed, a former automobile marketer who worked for Amazon and Harman International, to lead the Fiat brand in North America.
The move is effective immediately, the automaker said on Thursday. Ahmed took over from Larry Dominick, who had been leading Fiat in addition to his role as senior vice president of Alfa Romeo in North America.
Ahmed, 39, will take over the reins of a brand that has had difficulty gaining traction in the U.S. Fiat currently sells only the 500X here but plans to reintroduce an electric version of the 500 in 2024.
Fiat’s global CEO, Olivier Francois, said last fall that the 500e would return to the U.S. to take advantage of the industry’s new electric “revolution,” but the Italian brand has no huge volume ambitions for it and plans to expand the product line. Do not plan to do portfolio further.
Stellantis said Ahmed will lead the North American unit that is tasked with “delivering cool mobility solutions for everyone.” The automaker said, “Ahmed brings with him extensive experience and a deep understanding of the customer and their technology needs, which benefits the eco-friendly and stylish Fiat brand, leading to an unparalleled consumer experience for EV buyers.” “
Ahmed first joined Stellantis in 2011 and his roles covered Uconnect and connected services as well as SRT product and brand marketing. After leaving in 2017 he spent four years in sales at Harman and 15 months as Amazon’s head of North American partner marketing for Alexa Auto, according to his LinkedIn page.
“Amir is back where he was and is just in time to lead Fiat down the path of electrification here in North America,” Mark Stewart, COO of Stellantis North America, said in a statement. “We’re excited to hit his ground.”
Despite its minimal sales in North America, Fiat has been the volume leader for the Stellantis globally, and the European version of the 500e, called the New 500, is one of Europe’s best-selling electric vehicles.
The brand hasn’t come close to duplicating that success in the U.S. It returned to the market in 2011 after a 27-year hiatus, carrying a youthful energy that propelled it to annual sales of more than 40,000 from 2012 to 2015. Fiat had targeted US sales of 50,000 vehicles in 2011 and 78,000 in 2013, but peaked at 46,121 in 2014 before a sharp decline in 2016.
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This news is auto-generated through an RSS feed. We don’t have any command over it. News source: Multiple Agencies: Autocar India, hindustantimes, economic times, autonews
