Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares resigns amid U.S. issues

Detroit — Stellantis The company announced Sunday that CEO Carlos Tavares has unexpectedly resigned from the company amid growing “differences of opinion” between management and the board.

The world’s fourth-largest automaker announced its board of directors accepted Tavares’ resignation on Sunday. His resignation is effective immediately.

Jeep maker Stellantis said the process to appoint a new chief executive officer is “progressing well” and expects to complete the search in the first half of next year. In the meantime, the company announced the creation of a new interim executive committee, led by Chairman John Elkann.

“Stellantis’ success since its inception has been rooted in perfect collaboration between its standard shareholders, the Board of Directors, and the CEO. However, in recent weeks, divergent views have emerged, and the Board and CEO have made today’s decision. That’s it,” Henry said. De Castries, Senior Independent Director of Stellantis, said in the release.

A spokesperson for Stellantis declined to disclose additional information about the resignation.

Tavares’ resignation comes less than two months after the company announced he would leave the company when his contract expires in early 2026. At the time, Stellantis said it planned to name a replacement by the fourth quarter of next year.

Mr. Tavares has led Stellantis since its creation in the 2021 merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA Group, and has served as chairman of the board since 2014.

A genius auto industry veteran like former Nissan executive Carlos Ghosn, he has gained widespread attention in recent years for spearheading a merger that made Stellantis one of the world’s most profitable automakers. Collected.

However, the company’s results this year are expected to fall amid mismanagement of the U.S. market, the company’s main source of funding, including a lack of investment in new and updated products, historically high prices, and extreme cost-cutting measures. It was significantly lower than that.

The company, which also owns brands such as Dodge, Fiat, Chrysler and Peugeot, lowered its annual outlook target in September, a month before the automaker reported a 27% drop in third-quarter net revenue.

Sales of Stellantis have also struggled this year. The company recently reported that global auto sales in the third quarter were down about 20% year-over-year. This included a year-long extension of his free fall while in the U.S., despite Tavares’ attempts to right what he called an “arrogant” mistake.

The company’s U.S.-traded shares will fall about 43% in 2024.

Mr. Tavares made cost reduction a key mission for Stellantis, including self-reported savings of 8.4 billion euros ($9 billion) from the merger.

Cost-cutting measures include restructuring the company’s supply chain and operations, as well as cutting jobs in the United States and increasing jobs in lower-cost countries such as Brazil and Mexico.

Several current and former Stellantis executives, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the potential impact, have previously said the cuts to CNBC are excessive and draconian and would cause problems in the United States. Ta.

Mr. Tavares disputed claims that the company’s extensive cost-cutting efforts caused the problem.

“When you don’t get results for whatever reason…you might want to use scapegoats. It’s easy to cut the budget. That’s wrong,” Tavares said in July.

Stellantis reduced its workforce by 15.5%, or about 47,500 people, from December 2019 to the end of 2023, according to public filings. Additional job cuts in the United States and Italy this year, targeting thousands of factory workers, have angered unions in both countries.

The United Auto Workers union has been calling for Tavares’ removal for months as its members face layoffs and production cuts. Stellantis’ U.S. dealership network has also spoken out against Mr. Tavares amid ballooning inventories and a lack of financial support from the company for vehicle sales.