FORMER Nissan Australia CEO William (Bill) Peffer has been shifted from his role as the head of Jeep in North America after only nine months on the job.

Mr Peffer, who now takes on the position of head of Jeep’s North American dealer network development, has been replaced by Bob Broderdorf who was previously senior vice president of Ram brand operations.

The move by Jeep parent Stellantis comes as it attempts to reverse the SUV specialist’s five-year US sales slide.

Mr Peffer succeeds Phil Langley, who is retiring after a 40-year career at the former Chrysler Corp.

William (Bill) Peffer

Stellantis North America COO Carlos Zarlenga said in a statement that Mr Broderdorf’s diverse experiences in field sales, brand management, marketing strategy and product development “will be critical as the Jeep brand launches its electrified portfolio over the next several years”.

“And with his exceptional combination of retail automotive experience and leadership roles at both domestic and import OEMs, Bill (Peffer) will help us raise the bar as we work together with our dealer network to write the next chapter in our transformation,” Mr Zarlenga said.

“Today’s moves align with our focus on optimising operations here in the region and preparing for our future.”

The changes come shortly after Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares visited Detroit to address the company’s troubled North American operations.

Stellantis posted a 21 per cent drop in second-quarter U.S. sales – including a 19 per cent decline for Jeep – while the rest of the market rose 1.7 per cent.

Mr Broderdorf started at Chrysler 20 years ago as a district sales manager and has subsequently had sales and marketing roles with Ram, Dodge, Chrysler, Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Maserati.

Mr Peffer was in the Jeep role only since December, when he succeeded Jim Morrison. He was Nissan Australia CEO for 18 months from early 2012 before returning to the United States for a senior sales role with Cadillac in late 2013, where he stayed for just 10 months.

Bob Broderdorf

Before joining Stellantis at the end of 2020 as CEO of Maserati North America, Mr Peffer had been a Kia Motors America sales executive who spent one week as the Korean’s regional COO.

His new responsibilities, starting October 1, involve optimising dealership sales volumes, Stellantis said.

Mr Langley spent five years as head of network development and was an Automotive News All Star in 2023 after Stellantis added more minority-owned dealerships in 2021 and 2022 than any other car-maker.

Mr Zarlenga’s statement congratulated Mr Langley “for his 40-plus years with the company, all of which have been in providing outstanding leadership and the highest level of dedication and service to the company and our dealers across the country”.