Stellantis Boss Carlos Tavares Suddenly Resigns

Carlos Tavares, the CEO of Stellantis, announced his resignation "with immediate effect" on Sunday, indicating disagreements over how to address the company's declining profitability.

The Italian-US-French company, which owns 14 brands including Fiat, Peugeot-Citroen, Opel, Maserati, Chrysler, Ram, and Jeep, announced in a statement that the board has accepted the 66-year-old Portuguese executive's resignation.

"In recent weeks different views have emerged which have resulted in the board and the CEO coming to today's decision," independent director Henri de Castries said in the statement, without giving details.

In September, the automaker announced that it had begun the process of finding a replacement for Tavares, who was scheduled to step down when his current five-year term expired in early 2026.

"The process to appoint the new permanent chief executive officer is well under way, managed by a special committee of the board, and will be concluded within the first half of 2025," said the statement.

It further stated that until then, the business will be operated by an "interim executive committee" under the direction of chairman John Elkann.

In recent months, Stellantis has experienced increasing challenges that Tavares had described as stormy. Electrical issues caused several model debuts to be postponed. Tavares had indicated that a deal was possible, but Elkann has rejected any additional combination with another business.

According to Stellantis' July results report, revenues in North America, the company's primary source of profit, fell 18 percent in the first six months. It later decreased its profit prediction, reporting that third-quarter sales in North America were 20% lower than in 2023. Stellantis, like other automakers, has blamed much of its woes on Chinese competition and the tough transition to electric vehicles.

Tavares began his career in the automotive business with Renault before taking over as CEO of the former Peugeot-Citroen (PSA) group in 2014. During his tenure, he established himself as a cost-cutter and oversaw the French group's merger with Opel of Germany.

In 2021, PSA and Fiat-Chrysler combined to establish Stellantis, and Tavares was appointed company CEO. It first produced great earnings and made fast investments in hybrid and electric cars. Automakers were able to raise prices due to shortages caused by a lack of computer chips.

With this year's profit statistics, the storm clouds began to gather, and the market has since steadied at lower levels.

Governments and workers were concerned about production reduction at a number of factories. In October, thousands protested against reduced Fiat manufacturing in Italy. The company has made the decision to shift production from Western Europe to less expensive plants in countries like Morocco, Brazil, and Turkey.

Since then, Tavares had promised that things were getting better in the United States and that Stellantis was not the only one in Europe having problems.

However, the company revealed this week that 1,100 jobs will be lost when it closed a factory in Luton, England. The business has pledged not to close any factories, despite reducing production in France.