Board Of Directors

Levent Çakıroğlu graduated from Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences, Business Administration Department and received his master’s degree from University of Illinois. He started his career as an Assistant Auditor at the Ministry of Finance in 1988, where he worked as a Senior Auditor between 1991 and 1997. He served as Vice President of Financial Crimes Investigation Board between 1997 and 1998, meanwhile he taught as a Part Time Instructor at Bilkent University. Çakıroğlu joined Koç Group in 1998 as Koç Holding Financial Group Coordinator. He was the General Manager of Koçtaş between 2002 and 2007 and the CEO of Migros between 2007 and 2008. He was assigned as the CEO of Arçelik in 2008 and also became President of the Durable Goods Group of Koç Holding in April 2010. Çakıroğlu has been appointed as the CEO of Koç Holding in April 2015. He currently serves as the CEO and has also been a Member of the Board of Directors of Koç Holding since April 2016. Levent Çakıroğlu is also the Chair of the Board of Directors of Arçelik- LG and TürkTraktör, the Vice Chair of Yapı Kredi Bank and Member of the Board of Directors at various Koç Group companies.

Samir Cherfan graduated from Polytech Sorbonne Paris with a degree in Engineering. Cherfan started his career with Renault Group in 1992. During the first 11 years, Cherfan held various management positions in research, engineering and modules development and production. Cherfan was appointed program director of mid-range models designed for international markets in 2003 and Managing Director of Eastern Paris retail network at Renault Retail Group in 2010. Cherfan became the Sales and Marketing Director of Nissan Group in the Middle East in 2012 and the General Manager of the same division in 2013. Cherfan joined Groupe PSA in 2017 as Sales and Marketing Senior Vice President for Middle East and Africa region (MEA). In 2019, Cherfan was nominated Director of MEA Region and Executive Vice President. Since January 2020, Samir Cherfan has been the Chief Operating Officer Middle East and Africa and Member of the Global Executive Committee.

Cengiz Eroldu graduated from the Business Administration Faculty of Istanbul University and completed the MBA program at LUISS University (Italy). He began his career as an Audit Specialist at Koç Holding in 1989. He was appointed to the position of Assistant Accounting and Industrial Governance Manager for Tofaş in 1995, working in the Accounting and Industrial Governance Department and the Budget and Governance Department from 2001 to 2008, and in the Finance Department between 2008 until 2015. Since January 2015, he has been serving as Member of the Tofaş Board of Directors and CEO.

He graduated from Istanbul University Faculty of Law in 1983. He joined the Istanbul Bar Association in 1984. He obtained a master’s degree in International Trade Law from Tulane University Law School in New Orleans and an Executive MBA degree from Koç University. He started his professional career in 1989 at Koç Holding as Legal Counsel; between 2000 and 2006, he continued his duty as Deputy Chief Legal Counsel. Between 2006 and 2021, he served as Chief Legal Counsel of Koç Holding; as of the beginning of 2021, he assumed the title of Chief Legal and Compliance Counsel, also being responsible for the Compliance Program. Kenan Yılmaz is also a Member of the Board of Directors of Tofaş Türk Otomobil Fabrikası A.Ş. and Marmaris Altınyunus Turistik Tesisler A.Ş. In addition, he serves as Chairman of the Board and Member of the Board of Directors at certain other Koç Group companies. In addition to these duties, he is a Founding Member of the Ethics Values Center Foundation of Turkey, a Founding Member and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Turkish Underwater Archaeology Foundation (TINA), Chairman of the Board of Directors of Koç Holding Pension and Relief Fund Foundation, and a Member of TÜSİAD.

Silvia Vernetti Blina received her master’s degree in engineering from Politecnic University of Catalunya. Vernetti has experience in strategic planning, business development as well as financial business management. Silvia Vernetti Blina held consultant roles at Bain & Company (Italy) and Andersen Consulting prior to joining Fiat S.p.A in 2004 where she was responsible for Business Development and Joint Ventures Coordination for Fidis, the Group’s consumer finance unit. Vernetti also served as the Head of Business Development for FCA’s EMEA Region from 2009 and Head of FCA Serbia from 2011. During this period, Vernetti also led the Fiat Group Auto Alliances Management & Strategic Planning function where she managed alliances with key industrial partners. Silvia Vernetti Blina has been serving as head of the Global Corporate Office and a member of Stellantis’ Top Executive Team since January 2021. Since March 2018, she has been serving as Global Head of Jeep Finance.

Polat Şen started his career as Audit Assistant at Koç Holding's Audit Group Department in 2000. From 2002 to 2005, he worked as Audit Specialist at Koç Holding. In 2005, he was appointed as Internal Audit Manager of Arçelik A.Ş. and in 2008 as Finance and Accounting Group Director of Grundig Electronics / Grundig Multimedia B.V. From 2009 to 2010, he was Finance and Accounting Director of Arçelik A.Ş. / Grundig Multimedia B.V. From 2010 to 2015, he was the Purchasing Director of Arçelik A.Ş. and from 2015 to 2022, he was the CFO of Arçelik A.Ş. Şen serves as the CFO of Koç Holding since April 2022.

Giorgio Fossati holds a degree in law from the University of Turin (Italy). He started his professional career in the Legal Department at Iveco S.p.A. in 1988 and joined Fiat S.p.A. in 1999 as a member of the legal staff. He became General Counsel of FCA Italy S.p.A. in 2002. He has served as the General Counsel for FCA EMEA Region and as Corporate General Counsel for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. since 2011. Mr. Fossati is a member of the Boards of Directors of FCA US LLC, FCA Italy S.p.A., Teksid S.p.A., Fiat Chrysler Finance S.p.A., Fidis S.p.A., FCA Partecipazioni S.p.A., Fiat Chrysler Risk Management S.p.A. and Abarth & C. S.p.A. In addition, he is a member of the Executive Committee of FCA Poland S.A.

Mele holds a degree in management engineering and industrial management from Politecnico di Torino, Italy. He joined Fiat Group in 2001 as a Senior Auditor and held various roles of increasing responsibility in Europe, North America and LATAM, serving as head of Group and North America Platform Finance & CapEx; Financial Planning & Analysis; Chief Financial Officer and Head of Business Development for LATAM and then Deputy COO for LATAM leading the launch of Jeep for the region. In 2018, he was appointed Deputy COO for FCA’s EMEA Region, focusing on brands, leading the electrification challenge, and on business development, with the merger between FCA and Groupe PSA. Prior to June 2025, he was Head of Programs & Product Planning. In 2022, he was made Head of Global Parts & Services having served as Deputy COO for Enlarged Europe from the creation of Stellantis in January 2021. Davide Mele is responsible for Product Planning and a member of the Stellantis Leadership team.

Gianni Coda, who has been serving as Independent Board Member of Tofaş since 28.03.2024, is a leading figure in the automotive industry. He held various positions of responsibility within Fiat Group. He joined Teksid in 1979 and later held positions of increasing responsibility at Fiat Allis and Fiat Geotech. In 1992, he was appointed to lead the integration of Fiat and Ford New Holland and in 1993 became Vice President of New Holland Agricultural Machinery with responsibility for engineering, manufacturing and purchasing. His responsibilities expanded over time and in 1996 he became Chief Executive Officer of Fiat Ferroviaria. In 1999, he assumed responsibility for Fiat Auto in Latin America. In 2002, he was appointed Head of the Fiat/Lancia Business Unit. In 2004, he also assumed responsibility for the newly established Fiat Group Purchasing organization, overseeing the purchasing activities of Fiat Group Automobiles, Iveco, CNH, Fiat Powertrain Technologies and Fast Buyer. From 2011 onwards, he presided over Fiat’s newly established Europe, Middle East and Africa region. At the end of 2012, after thirty-three years of dedicated service, he retired from Fiat.

Kudret Önen, who has been serving as Independent Board Member of Tofaş since 28.03.2024, completed his higher education at Ankara Gazi University, Department of Mechanical Engineering; he joined the Koç Group in 1975 at Ford Otosan Istanbul Plant. After working as a Mechanical Engineer in the Production Planning and Product Development Department, he served as Automotive Department Manager at Koç Holding R&D between 1979 and 1984. In 1984, he joined Koç Group company Otokar as Deputy General Manager. Between 1994 and 2006, he continued to serve as General Manager of Otokar. Appointed in 2006 as Koç Holding President of Defense Industry, Other Automotive and Information Group, Kudret Önen served as President in this role until 2016. Throughout his career, Kudret Önen served as Board Member in Koç Group automotive companies and also held positions in various non-governmental organizations, serving as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Automotive Manufacturers Association (OSD) between 2010 and 2016, and as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Turkish Employers’ Association of Metal Industries (MESS) and the Turkish Confederation of Employer Associations (TİSK) between 2016 and 2019. Kudret Önen retired from Koç Holding in 2016. Kudret Önen is also an Independent Board Member of Koç Holding.