In April 2021, Roland Bouchara took charge as CEO and Managing Director for Stellatis in India. Now, the conglomerate has named two new leadership roles for its two main brands in the Indian market. Saurabh Vatsa would take charge of the French car brand – Citroen. And Nipun J Mahajan would be responsible for the American SUV marquee Jeep.
Saurabh Vatsa stepped in the PSA Group in 2018 as Senior Director Marketing & Corporate Communications. Stellantis says that he has been instrumental in the strategy for the launch of the Citroen brand and its first product C5 Aircross SUV in India. He will be responsible for Citroen’s Sales, Marketing, Aftersales, and Product Planning & PR functions in India.
On the other hand, Nipun J Mahajan has been named in a similar role by Stellantis for the Jeep brand in India. He brings in over 25 years of expertise in the automotive industry to the Jeep brand in his new leadership position. He has been a part of Jeep for the last five years as Vice President, Sales Operations and Network Development. The company also says that he has played an instrumental role in launching the Jeep brand in India and achieving 50,000 sales milestones for the Compass.
Roland Bouchara said, “I am pleased to welcome Saurabh and Nipun to our India leadership team. These appointments are a continuation of the seamless integration process that has been well underway since Stellantis was born,”
Vatsa and Mahajan would be reporting directly to Roland Bouchara and have already assumed their new positions since June 7, 2021.
Jeep is currently developing a 3-row SUV for the Indian market. This new model will be using the same platform as the current Compass SUV. It will take on the likes of the Tata Safari, Hyundai Alcazar, MG Hector Plus and the Mahindra XUV500 (soon to be launched next-gen XUV700). On the other hand, Citroen India is working on a compact SUV as a part of its C-Cubed Programme using the Common Modular Platform (CMP architecture). Both models are expected to be launched in the Indian market in 2022.