Citroen CEO Vincent Cobee Steps Down, Thierry Koskas Appointed To Position

There’s something of a shakeup happening across the pond with Citroen. The French automaker will have a new boss as of March 1, with Thierry Koskas taking over as CEO. The current head of Citroen, Vincent Cobee, is stepping away to “pursue personal projects outside of the company” according to a press release from Stellantis.

In his new CEO position, Koskas will be performing double duty. He’s presently the chief sales and marketing officer for Stellantis, and he will continue in that role while heading up the Citroen brand. Citroen is one of numerous automakers belonging to the Stellantis conglomerate; Koskas will continue reporting directly to Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares.

Thierry Koska, Citroen CEO

“I have full confidence in Thierry Koskas to carry out these strategic and valuable missions for our company, so that Stellantis can lead the way the market moves, while developing the iconic Citroen brand,” said Tavares in an announcement on the transition. “Thierry’s dual responsibility is part of a logic of cross-functionality, as is already the case for other EVPs within the Stellantis leadership team. I would like to thank Vincent Cobee for having set the positioning of Citroen within the Stellantis brand portfolio and wish him the best in his future endeavors.”

Cobee’s time as Citroen’s CEO was relatively short, having accepted the role in January 2020. He migrated to Citroen after a lengthy career with Nissan, where he led the reformed Datsun effort in 2010 that ultimately failed. Prior to Citroen, Cobee was an executive director at Mitsubishi.

Koskas joined Peugeot S.A. in 2019 to oversee sales for the numerous brands under the Peugeot umbrella, including Citroen. His earlier automotive career included lengthy tenures at rival Renault, where both he and Tavares worked with Carlos Ghosn, former Renault boss who was ousted from his CEO position at Nissan in 2018 over alleged accounting discrepancies, among other things.