Thunderbolt at Stellantis. The Franco-Italian-American automobile giant announced in a press release on Sunday the resignation of its CEO Carlos Tavares to everyone's surprise. Under pressure from his board of directors, the emblematic boss of Stellantis agreed to resign “with immediate effect” due to “divergence of views”.
Not really known for being a boss with a social fiber but rather praised for his “cost-killer” policy, the 66-year-old manager pays for his “management considered too brutal” and “excessive pressure on the teams” according to Franceinfo. To digest his departure and in agreement with the board of directors which salutes his work for ten years, the Portuguese boss should leave with a check for several tens of millions of euros according to information revealed by Franceinfo.
He was controversial a few months ago
If this golden parachute may shock, it is in line with its emoluments. In April 2024, the colossal remuneration of 36.5 million euros validated by Stellantis shareholders for the year 2023 for Carlos Tavares sparked a wave of indignation in the country. “If you consider that it is not acceptable, make a law and modify the law and I will respect it”, retorted the omnipotent boss at the microphone of France Bleu Lorraine Nord while recalling that his remuneration was a “dimension contractual between the company and [lui]as for a football and Formula 1 player”.
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Indeed, his successes as a business leader have sometimes earned him the nickname “Mbappé of automobiles”. The main architect of the successful merger between PSA and Fiat Chrysler, he recovered PSA from the brink of bankruptcy in 2014 and transformed Stellantis into one of the world's largest manufacturers. The current period is less glorious for Stellantis. After years of record profits, the group with 14 brands (Citroën, Fiat, Peugeot, Opel, etc.) had a delicate start to the 2024 financial year with net profit halved before seeing its margins collapse due to a drop in sales and promotions launched to reduce vehicle inventories in North America. For Carlos Tavares, the year 2024 punctuated by his sidelining will not have been easy. Ultimately, his comparison with Kylian Mbappé, in difficulty with Real Madrid, was not so absurd.
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