- Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis, has abruptly resigned his position more than a year earlier than intended
- Stellantis said that “different views” between its board and CEO led to the decision
- Globally, Stellantis’ revenue dropped 27% in the third quarter of 2024, with North America falling by 42%
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Carlos Tavares has resigned as the CEO of Stellantis, the global company that owns Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Ram, and more. The automaker has appointed an interim committee to lead the firm until a new CEO is named in 2025. Tavares had planned to depart his position in early 2026 when his contract was due to expire, and Stellantis was already working to find a replacement for him. Instead, Tavares handed in his notice on the first weekend in December, effective immediately.
In a statement, Henri de Castries, the automaker’s senior independent director, said, “Stellantis’ success since its creation has been rooted in a perfect alignment between the reference shareholders, the Board, and the CEO. However, in recent weeks, different views have emerged which have resulted in the Board and the CEO coming to today’s decision.”
Stellantis isn’t saying exactly how different those views were, but Tavares made headlines earlier this year when he singled out U.S. manufacturing plants, and specifically the Sterling Heights Assembly that builds Ram trucks, for quality control issues and the extra costs involved in fixing them.
He also told reporters Stellantis would take steps to “fix weak margins and high inventory at its U.S. operations,” and across the company, if any auto brands “don’t make money, we’ll shut them down. We cannot afford to have brands that do not make money.” Earlier this year, he also revealed that Stellantis had been approached by other companies to sell Alfa Romeo and one of its French brands – which could have been DS Automobiles, Citroën, or Peugeot – but said that he refused all offers.
There was also a bit of a dust-up with the Italian government, which apparently mulled over a plan to take over Autobianchi and Innocenti, two dormant brands owned by Stellantis; and then give them to Chinese electric-vehicle companies as an incentive to establish factories in Italy. That was only half of it: Italy’s government also clashed with Tavares over Alfa Romeo and Fiat models he’d outsourced to lower-cost production facilities outside the country — with the government saying that vehicles with Italian names and logos on them had to be made in Italy.
Regarding the resignation, a report from Reuters mentioned an unnamed source who said the Stellantis board thought Tavares was “moving too quickly and focusing on near-term solutions to save his reputation rather than working in the best interest of the company.”
The company’s revenues dropped by 27% in the third quarter of 2024. All regions except South America fell by double digits, with North American operations hit the hardest with a 42% drop, and Europe down by 12%. Globally, vehicle shipments fell by 20% in an effort to reduce unsold inventory at dealerships.
Born in Portugal, the 66-year-old Tavares joined Renault in 1981, rising through the ranks to senior roles at Renault and Nissan. In 2014, he left to head up PSA Group, formerly Peugeot Citroën, which he helped bring back to profitability. That company merged with FCA – Fiat Chrysler Automobiles – to form Stellantis in January 2021, headquartered in Amsterdam and with Tavares in charge of it.
The committee that will run Stellantis until a replacement is found is headed up by John Elkann, chairman of the automaker’s board of directors and in the same role at Ferrari. Others on the interim board include Antonio Filosa, chief operating officer of Stellantis North America and CEO of Jeep; and Doug Ostermann, Stellantis’ chief financial officer.
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