2024-01-09 22:57:46
Since his arrival to the top responsibility of Citroën almost a year ago, in the first quarter of 2023, Thierry Koskas (France, 1964) has been polishing the management team, adapting it to its needs with the objective of turning Citroën into a “popular and accessible” brand. In some way, it is about returning to the origins of the brand that André Citroën launched.
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The appointment of Koskas, who was, and continues to hold, the position of head of sales and marketing of the group, was a direct and fulminating decision by Carlos Tavares, CEO of the Stellantis group. He replaced Vincent Cobée (France, 1968) at the head of the chevron brand, who had held the position since January 2020, when Linda Jackson left it, and was confirmed in January 2021, when the merger of the PSA groups took place. and FCA. Cobée left the group.
From Renault to Stellantis with Tavares
Thierry Koskas, a graduate of the Polytechnique and Mines School of Paris, one of the most prestigious universities in France, worked at Renault (as Carlos Tavares) between 1997 and 2016, including being CEO of Renault Argentina. In 2019 he joined PSA, which in 2021 merged with FCA to create Stellantis.
Thierry Koskas, consejero delegado de Citroën / VIDEO STELLANTIS
On July 1, 2023, there will be a change in the organizational chart with the appointment of Laurent Diot to a newly created position, general director of Wider Europe for the Citroën brand. The new position reports directly to Uwe Hochgeschurtz, CEO of Wider Europe at Stellantis, and functionally to Thierry Koskas, the CEO of Citroën.
Diot is a man trained at Renault where he worked from 1997 until 2021 when he joined Stellantis. At Renault he had worked in different positions of responsibility and in different regions, Europe, Asia, China, South America and Africa. Until he called Koskas to take over the helm of Citroën in Europe, he was the Marketing and Communication Director of FIAT Abarth in Turin (Italy). Diot’s arrival left Arnaud Ribault, responsible for Citroën in Europe since March 2021, without responsibilities. He has now just signed for Peugeot Motrocycles, which is outside the Stellantis group as it is controlled by the Mutares fund.
On October 1, Koskas completed his team with another former Renault, the Argentine Federico Goyret, who assumed the vice presidency of marketing and communication at Citroën with the aim of consolidating the brand throughout the world. Goyret who has a degree in engineering from the University of Buenos Aires and a degree in International Trade from HEC Montreal, INSEAD and the Berlin School of Creative Leadership. He started his career in 2004 at Ford Argentina to join Renault in 2012. He held different marketing management positions in Brazil and Argentina. Until he joined Citroën and since 2021, he is Marketing and Communication Director of Jive Investments, an international asset management company based in Brazil.
Nuno Coutinho, general director of Citroën in Spain and Portugal
Nuno Coutinho, director of Citroën España
The changes have also affected the Iberian market with the replacement in the general management of Citroën for Spain and Portugal that on September 13 was assumed by the Portuguese Nuno Coutinho (48 years old), who since 2018 was the World Head of Sales and Prices of DS Automobiles. Coutinho reports directly to Maurizio Zuares, Country Manager of Stellantis Iberia. Coutinho, with a degree in Administration, joined Peugeot Portugal in 2006 and later worked in France and Brazil for Peugeot, Citroën and DS Automobiles. He replaced Nuno Marques, Stellantis’ new Commercial Vehicles Business Development Director for North and South America.
The new year 2024 is going to be very important for Citroén since the launch in Europe of the new C3, the European version of the model launched with the same platform in India and Brazil. With the electric-powered C3, Citroën aspires to be a serious competitor to Dacia and the new Chinese players that have recently landed in Europe. After him will come the C3 Aircross.
The new Citroën products “will be in line with Citroën’s positioning as a popular, accessible and mobility brand for all,” says Koskas. That is why he has announced on several occasions that the C3 will cost “about 15,000 euros”, although he recognizes that his priority is to “recover market share.”
Despite not having new models on the market, Citroën managed to maintain the type in 2023. In Europe and the United Kingdom, the French brand sold almost 350,000 vehicles from January to November 2023, which represents a slight decrease from 0. 7%. From that level the challenge of Thierry Koskas’ comeback in Citroën will begin.
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