Jeep has announced the appointment of a new UK management team.
It is the fourth Stellantis brand so far this year to carry out a management reshuffle, following similar previous announcements from Citroen, Peugeot, and Vauxhall.
Jules Tilstone (pictured) has been named as Jeep’s new managing director, and he is joined by regional operations and Jeep sales director Christian Theobald, and marketing director Nicola Austen.
Tilstone, who was most recently UK managing director for DS, has over 20 years of experience with Stellantis, initially as commercial manager, then in national fleet and then marketing for Citroen, before moving to DS in 2014, where his other roles included international head of marketing and European commercial director.
He said: “It is a great privilege to take on the role of managing director for Jeep, a brand I have much admired over the years and has an exciting future ahead with an array of new products – our first new all-electric product, Avenger, has just been awarded the European Car of The Year trophy which is a remarkable achievement and testament to the Jeep team.”
Stellantis group managing director Paul Willcox said: “I am delighted to congratulate Jules on his new appointment as managing director for the UK operations of Jeep.
“Jules has the exciting task of leading the UK business as it creates and prepares for its next milestone – the electric Jeep company.”
Theobald joined the business 27 years ago as a trainee sales executive within the retail business, holding many roles up to general manager, before moving to Citroen in 2019 as head of southern region, and subsequently national head of network sales.
He said: “I’m very excited about this new chapter with Jeep at what is such a great time for the brand off the back of the car of the year win for the Avenger, [and] now looking forward to working with the Jeep network to realise the full potential that Jeep offers.
“Within this role I also assume responsibility as regional Director for the Stellantis mainstream brands in the South East.”
Austen joined Alfa Romeo as brand communications manager in 2015, subsequently adding Jeep to her role before moving to head up fleet sales in 2019. She became head of communications for Jeep in 2020, before stepping up to marketing director earlier this year.
She said: “The public response to the new Avenger has been so very encouraging. We’ve seen what’s coming down the Jeep pipeline and it’s so exciting and provides us with many opportunities to create new and electrifying campaigns.”
