Eight days after Stellantis named Pablo Di Si its North America chief operating officer, the company has put U.S. sales, dealers included, under the executive who already runs its American brands and its marketing.
Tim Kuniskis is now Stellantis’ U.S. chief commercial officer, effective immediately, according to a Nov. 12 company release. He reports to Di Si, and his remit now includes U.S. retail and fleet sales and the dealer network, on top of the American brands, the SRT performance division, marketing and retail strategy. The same release says Michael Orange, senior vice president of U.S. sales and network performance, has departed the company. It gives no reason.
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A sales chief hired in April, gone in November
Stellantis announced Orange’s hiring on April 16, effective April 22. He came from Hyundai Motor America, where he was vice president of national sales, and replaced Jeff Kommor, who retired after more than 40 years in commercial operations. By The Auto Wire’s count, Orange’s tenure ran 204 days, just under seven months. He reported to CEO Antonio Filosa when he was hired. The sales function now runs through Kuniskis to Di Si.
Nothing in Stellantis’ recent numbers explains the exit. Orange was quoted in the Oct. 1 third-quarter U.S. sales release, which reported 324,277 vehicles and described the total as steady against a year earlier. Stellantis’ third-quarter financial results put its U.S. sales down 0.3% while the U.S. industry fell 0.8%, and North American market share up 10 basis points to 7.5%. The company frames the change as simplification. Di Si said that putting brands, marketing, the dealer network and sales strategy together gives the organization “a clear line of decision-making.”
One executive now sets the pitch and the fleet mix
In most states, franchise laws keep automakers from selling new vehicles directly to the public, so a manufacturer’s sales organization is its negotiator with the dealer body: how many vehicles a store receives, which incentives it can offer, what standards it must meet. Until Nov. 12, that negotiator and the executives deciding what the brands say and sell were separate. Kuniskis began his career in 1992 in sales and dealer-development roles in Chrysler’s Syracuse and Orlando zones, according to his Stellantis biography, before moving into brand jobs. He now holds both ends.
Fleet is in his remit too, and Stellantis’ own third-quarter figures show why that matters. Ram 1500 sales rose 73% against the third quarter of 2025, while retail sales of the truck rose 42%. Stellantis doesn’t break out the difference, but sales outside retail clearly grew faster. Fleet vehicles generally sell at lower transaction prices than retail ones and reach used-car lots a year or two later, so the retail-to-fleet mix feeds what dealers earn now and what a three-year-old Ram is worth later. With both channels under one executive, that trade-off is one person’s call.
Dodge and Chrysler get full-time chiefs
The release also returns Bob Broderdorf, back from medical leave, as Dodge brand CEO, and tells Matt McAlear to focus only on Chrysler, which has three new vehicles confirmed under the FaSTLAne 2030 plan. Both report to Kuniskis. Of McAlear’s assignment, Kuniskis said, “You don’t do that part-time.” The release shows no organizational change at Jeep or Ram. Kuniskis himself now carries those brand chiefs, SRT, marketing, dealers and both sales channels, a wider portfolio than the one he wants McAlear to hold alone.
What to watch next
The release names no successor for Orange’s old job, so the first thing to look for is whether a dedicated U.S. sales executive appears beneath Kuniskis. The next U.S. sales release will show whose name Stellantis puts on sales results, since Orange’s was on the last one. Dealers will be watching inventory: in its third-quarter results, Stellantis said it expects North American inventory in December 2026 to be similar to December 2025.
Does putting brands, marketing, dealers and fleet under one executive give Stellantis the clear decision-making it says it wants, or does it leave too much resting on one person?