Stellantis has named a new group of executives to lead the design for future Jeep products.
Vince Galante, who has been with Stellantis or its predecessor companies since 2005, has been picked as vice president of Jeep exterior design, and Ryan Nagode has been selected as vice president of interior design, according to an announcement from Stellantis.
Galante replaces former head of Jeep design Mark Allen, who retired May 31 after 30 years with Stellantis and its predecessor companies. Nagode will fill the role that opened when Chris Benjamin left recently to become chief design officer at Volkswagen subsidiary Scout Motors. He’ll also be responsible for interior design for Ram, Chrysler and Dodge.
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Both will report to Chief Design Officer Ralph Gilles.
Galante has held a variety of positions of increasing responsibility and has been responsible for interior and exterior design, global user experience, management and execution of various products and programs, including the Uconnect platform, Grand Wagoneer Concept and the Airflow Vision Concept, the company said in the release. Galante has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in transportation design from the College for Creative Studies and a Master of Business Administration degree from Michigan State University.
Nagode, who joined the company as a product designer in 2003, helped create numerous high-profile vehicles, according to Stellantis. He led interior design for the upcoming 2025 Ram 1500 REV electric pickup and as well as the concept truck. He has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in industrial design from the Cleveland Institute of Art.
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In addition to the two design executive picks, Stellantis has named Leandro Pinto as vice president of global user experience. He joined Stellantis South America in 2019, leading the user experience design team before moving to France last year to work on global and regional platforms, according to the release.
Pinto joined Stellantis South America in 2019, leading the UX design team, eventually relocating to France in 2022 to work on regional and global programs. He has degrees from schools in Berlin; Bologna, Italy; Sydney, and Sao Paulo.
He’ll also report to Gilles, who noted that “Vince, Ryan and Leandro will bring their own unique perspective, imagination and innovation to these roles as we move toward an electrified future. We’re fortunate to have such proven and amazing talent inside our design office.”
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As for Allen, the “quintessential Jeep guy” who wanted to be an automotive designer since the age of 5, according to a tribute posted by Stellantis, Gilles said he’d be missed:
“Mark has left his mark not only on the Jeep brand, but his influence on the designers that have had the pleasure of working with him. They will never forget his coaching style, whether it’s negotiating with engineering or sweating the details on every millimeter of our beloved Jeep vehicles.”
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