As part of the new Fiat Auto organisation set-up, Luca De Meo and Antonio Baravalle have been appointed to the positions of Brand and Commercial Manager at Fiat and Lancia respectively.

De Meo and Baravalle will work directly to Chief Executive Officer Herbert Demel.

Luca De Meo was born on June 13 1967 in Milan where he earned a degree in Business Economics at Bocconi University before studying Marketing Management at Insead in France.

In the period 1992 – 97 he rose to positions of increasing responsibility in Sales and Marketing at Renault in Italy and in France, eventually becoming Product Manager.

In 1998 he moved to Toyota Motor Europe where among other responsibilities he was in charge of Product Planning and Commercial Plan Coordination for the Lexus brand and General Manager, Product Management Division.

He joined Fiat Auto in 2002 as Lancia Marketing Manager, and was elevated to the position of Lancia Brand Manager in June 2004.

Antonio Baravalle was born on December 23 1964 in Turin where he graduated in Mathematical and Physical Sciences before taking a Master’s degree in Business Administration at the SAA in the same city.

In 1989 – 92 he worked in Sales and Marketing for various international companies. 1992 saw him move to Diageo, the British-owned multinational that is one of the giants in the retail sector, which appointed Baravalle to the position of Sales Manager of one of its distribution channels.

Baravalle joined Fiat Auto in 1999, and was appointed to positions of ever-increasing responsibility in Marketing and Sales. In 2002 he became Sales Coordinator for several European markets in the Alfa Romeo Business Unit, which appointed him its Marketing Manager in September 2003.

These two new appointments are part of Fiat Auto’s strategy to strengthen its management, a strategy that is being pursued by both internal growth and job alternation.