Fiat raises Luca De Meo to group chief

Fiat has promoted Luca De Meo to the new role of chief marketing officer for the Fiat Group, in the biggest marketing shake-up at the Italian carmaker in recent years.

De Meo, who was previously head of the Fiat brand, will oversee marketing for all of Fiat’s marques, including the main brand, Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Maserati and Lancia, as well as its agricultural equipment business CNH.

Fiat Group chief executive Sergio Marchionne wants to bring the different parts of the company’s business closer together, and De Meo’s department will control marketing strategy for the whole group. CNH executive Lorenzo Sistino will replace De Meo as head of the Fiat brand.

De Meo has been instrumental in Fiat’s recent turnaround, which has seen it bounce back from the brink of bankruptcy. A company spokesman says/ “His contribution to the rejuvenation and relaunch of the Fiat brand puts him in an ideal position to promote the various Fiat Group brands and develop new marketing capabilities across the group.”

The restructure means it is now unlikely that Steve Norman, the former global marketing director of the Fiat brand who left to join Renault earlier this year, will be directly replaced. Global marketing communications director Giovanni Perosino has taken on Norman’s advertising responsibilities (MW August 16) and is expected to work closely with De Meo.

It emerged in July that Norman was leaving Fiat to join Renault as senior vice-president of global marketing, as first revealed by marketingweek.co.uk. Norman, who started at Renault last month, replaced Benoit Marzloff, who stepped down from the French carmaker after 37 years.