Land Rover lures top Fiat marketer

Fiat UK marketing director Enrico Atanasio defects to head up Land Rover’s Italian operations.

Fiat’s UK marketing director has left the car company to head Land Rover in Italy.

Enrico Atanasio has defected to the Ford-owned luxury marque after less than a year in his job. His departure leaves Fiat without a marketing chief.

Atanasio was responsible for all Fiat’s marketing including advertising, the Alfa Romeo marque and Fiat’s &£50m media spend.

He was appointed last October from Rover in Italy to replace Giulo Ardenghi, who left to become worldwide head of commercial training at Fiat’s headquarters in Italy.

Atanasio has kept a low media profile since his appointment, and it is thought he decided to leave the company because he was unhappy at being based in the UK and wanted to return to Italy.

A Fiat spokesman confirmed Atanasio’s departure and says the company is now seeking a new marketing director.

Fiat’s advertising is handled by D’Arcy, and Alfa Romeo’s advertising is through Conquest. Media is bought by MediaVest.

D’Arcy was recently appointed to create its first pan-European advertising campaign for Fiat. The commercial, which was for the Brava Trofeo, was aimed at families.

Earlier this week, General Motors (GM) and Fiat finalised an alliance agreement.

The move gives GM a 20 per cent share of Fiat.