8:38 am, October 11, 2024
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares is to retire at the end of his current contract following a ‘Darwinian’ period for the motor industry.
Tavares, who has led Stellantis since its formation in 2021, will step away from his duties in the early months of 2026, as part of a major leadership shake-up, announced yesterday (Oct 10).
The carmaker says work is already underway to identify the 66-year-old’s replacement with a special board set up to to appoint a new CEO.
Led by experienced Stellantis chairman John Elkann, it is hoped that a new boss will have been appointed by the final quarter of 2025.
The news marks an end to Tavares’s long career in the automotive industry, having began his career at Renault as a test driving engineer way back in 1981.
He went on to enjoy a successful stint at Nissan, before returning to the French brand as COO in 2011.
In 2014 he was appointed CEO of PSA Group and was instrumental in the merger with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, which ultimately led to the creation of Stellantis.
Tavares will step away with the conglomerate now the fourth biggest carmaker in the world, behind only Toyota, Volkswagen Group, and Hyundai Motor Group in terms of global sales.
Despite the success, his career has not been without its controversial moments.
In 2022, his ‘shocking’ pay package was criticised by French president Emmanuel Macron, as well as his electoral challenger Marine Le Pen.
That year Tavares was paid €19m, plus a stock package worth €32m and long-term compensation of about €25m.
He was also accused of being ‘too ambitious’ while working at Nissan and reportedly quit after a row with CEO Carlos Ghosn – another man who is no stranger to controversy.
All change at the top of Stellantis
Aside from the Tavares’s retirement, Stellantis has also announced a raft of changes to its leadership team.
First up, Antonio Filosa has been appointed North America chief operating officer in addition to his role in charge of Jeep. He succeeds Carlos Zarlenga, whose next position will be ‘subject to a further announcement’.
Also taking up a new role is Jean-Philippe Imparato, who becomes is chief operating officer, enlarged Europe, alongside his role as CEO of Pro One. He succeeds Uwe Hochgeschurtz who will leave the company.
Also departing is chief financial officer Natalie Knight, who will be replaced by Doug Ostermann.
Meanwhile, Leapmotor executive Gregoire Olivier has been appointed as chief operating officer for China and Santo Ficili will become CEO of both Maserati and Alfa Romeo.
Outgoing CEO Tavares said: ‘During this Darwinian period for the automotive industry, our duty and ethical responsibility is to adapt and prepare ourselves for the future, better and faster than our competitors to deliver clean, safe and affordable mobility.
‘The newly appointed leadership team members will make their valuable contributions to our overall team’s determination to tackle the challenges ahead, reinforcing and accelerating our transformation to become the preferred mobility tech company.
‘I would like to thank everyone who contributed to lay the foundations for Stellantis’ future success.’
John Elkann, chairman of the board of directors, added: The board of directors is unanimous in its support of Carlos Tavares and for the decisive changes announced today.
‘We are confident that these steps to simplify our organisation will strengthen our leadership team as they work to restore the company’s performance to industry leading levels.’
