Stellantis, Tavares resigned: 'Different views between CEO and Board of Directors'. Elkann warned Mattarella and Meloni

In recent months, Tavares' management had come under increasing criticism from investors, dealers, and unions. Among the main points of contention were declining sales, an outdated vehicle range for the US market, and excessive inventory levels. These factors led to a profit warning on 30 September (with the adjusted operating profit margin plummeting from double digits to between 5.5% and 7%), despite Tavares' attempts to make significant changes, including the replacement of the chief financial officer (the change took place on 11 October, when Doug Ostermann took over from Natalie Knight, who left the company after one year) and other key executives. However, market shares declined in key areas such as France, raising doubts about the company's long-term sustainability.

Carlos Tavares, 66 (he was born in 1958 in Lisbon), has been a leading figure in the automotive industry, having risen to the top of Renault under Carlos Ghosn and demonstrated an extraordinary ability to turn around ailing companies. In his first years as CEO of Stellantis, Tavares had impressed investors by rationalising the number of car production platforms and cutting jobs to improve efficiency. However, tensions increased in 2024, when unions accused the company of compromising product quality and delaying the launch of strategic models due to an overly focused policy on cost-cutting. In the United States, dealers, forced to endure a commercial policy that had filled up their forecourts by 2024, increasing inventories and decreasing sales, had gone to confrontation with Tavares. Another source of harsh criticism had previously been the total remuneration of EUR 36.5 million in 2023 (an exceptional year for Stellantis, +60% on the Milan stock exchange). A record for posting in the sector and +56% compared to 23.4 million the previous year. Among others, long-term incentives of EUR 13 million were envisaged, conditional on the achievement of specific targets by 2025.

The resignation of the Portuguese top manager marks a crucial moment for Stellantis. With a 33% loss in share value over the past 12 months on Euronext, the new chief executive will face exceptional challenges, including reviving sales, improving competitiveness in key markets, and defining a long-term strategy that reconciles efficiency and quality. The future of Europe's second-largest manufacturer will depend on the new management's ability to turn the tide, rebuild investor confidence, and address an increasingly competitive and rapidly changing automotive market, at a time when the push for electrification has slowed due to low demand after years of heavy investment. Among the challenges will certainly be the plans for Italy, which have seen tension grow over the months between the company, the unions and the government.

Richard Palmer has been appointed Special Advisor to Chairman John Elkann and will participate in the Interim Executive Committee (IEC) as an advisor to the management team. This was announced by Stellantis. Palmer was until 2023 chief financial officer of Stellantis.