Carlos Tavares left Stellantis

Company announced the immediate departure of the Portuguese. The mandate would only end in 2026, but a “disaster” brought forward his resignation.

Carlos Tavares is no longer the executive president from Stellantis.

The automaker announced this Sunday that the Board of Directors accepted the Portuguese’s resignation, with immediate effects, and that his replacement will be appointed in the first half of 2025.

In , the Stellantis group announced that the Board of Directors, under the chairmanship of John Elkann, “accepted this Sunday the resignation of Carlos Tavares from the position of CEO with immediate effect”.

The process of appointing the new CEO permanent “is well underway, administered by a Special Committee of the Council, and will be completed in the first half of 2025,” adds the automaker, which has a unit in Mangualde.

“Until then, a new interim Executive Committee, chaired by John Elkann, will be established”, he highlights.

The group also confirmed “the ‘guidance’ [orientação] which he presented to the financial community on October 31st, for the entire year 2024.

Stellantis’ senior independent director, Henry of Castriesstated, quoted in the statement, that “Stellantis’ success since its creation is rooted in perfect alignment between the reference shareholders, the Board and the CEO”.

However, “in recent weeks different opinions have emerged which resulted in today’s Board and CEO decision,” he continued.

“Our thanks to Carlos [Tavares] for the years of dedicated service and the role he played in the creation of Stellantis, in addition to the previous turnarounds of PSA and Opel, putting us on the path to becoming a global leader in our industry”, stated, in turn, the president of the Board of Directors (‘chairman’), John Elkann.

“I look forward to working with our new Interim Executive Committee, supported by all of our Stellantis colleagues, as we complete the process of appointing our new CEO. Together, we will ensure the continued implementation of the company’s strategy in the long-term interests of Stellantis and all its stakeholders.”

The “disaster”

On October 11, the Portuguese Carlos Tavares would leave the group and retire in 2026.

However, as the statement suggests in the “different opinions” section, Stellantis has been experiencing clear problems in recent months.

Numa crisis undisguised, sales stagnated, profits fell and offers began to arrive for Stellantis to “get rid of” some of its historic brands.

Dealers in the USA do not hesitate: to this automaker. They claim that Stellantis brands are facing a “rapid degradation” thanks to “short-term decision making” – which reduced the company’s market share and hit the Jeep, Ram, Dodge and Chrysler brands.

In the first half of this year, the revenues fell 14% to 85 billion euros.

Os investors complain that Stellantis increased its inventories too much in 2023, that it was almost forced into exceptional discounts, that it spent a lot of money on mergers, acquisitions and investments, and that it had no available cash flows.

“This is actually the first time in the last three years that the Stellantis screwed up“, said analyst Daniel Roeska in July.

Despite being classified as one of the best directors in the automobile industry, the Portuguese Carlos Tavares could not resist.

Stellantis is one of the world’s leading car manufacturers and its portfolio includes brands such as Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Citroën, Dodge, DS Automobiles, Fiat, Jeep®, Lancia, Maserati, Opel, Peugeot, Ram, Vauxhall, Free2move and Leasys.

The morning after Carlos Tavares’ departure, Stellantis shares fell 7.28% on the Milan stock exchange and 6% on the Paris stock exchange.