Following this week’s resignation of 42-year old Antonio Baravalle, 40-year old Luca De Meo has been appointed as the new CEO of Alfa Romeo. De Meo will also maintain his current position as the chief marketing officer of Fiat Group, which he started back in September.

As CEO of Alfa Romeo, De Meo will be in charge of six brands in total: Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Fiat Professional LCVs, Lancia and Maserati as well as heavy truck maker Iveco and farm equipment maker Case New Holland.

His key role, however, will be to oversee Alfa’s return to the U.S. market in 2009. “One of De Meo’s duties is to take an out-of-the-box approach to Alfa’s US return,” Fiat group CEO Sergio Marchionne told reporters from Automotive News. Officials hope to see sales numbers double from the current 152,000, estimated for this year, to around 300,000 by the end of the decade.