Quite a surprise in the automotive world. The Stellantis automobile group announced on Sunday the resignation “with immediate effect” of its boss Carlos Tavares, whose successor will be appointed in the first half of 2025.
“The company's board of directors, meeting today under the chairmanship of John Elkann, accepted the resignation of Carlos Tavares,” the group said in a press release. This decision is the result of “different points of view” between the board of directors and the manager, explains Henri de Castries, administrator of Stellantis.
Sharp fall in the first half
The Franco-Italian-American manufacturer indicated at the end of September that it had launched a succession process for its general director, whose mandate was scheduled to end at the beginning of 2026.
“A little over a year before the end of a five-year contract signed in January 2021, it is completely normal for a board of directors to look into the subject with the necessary anticipation in view of the importance of the position, without this presaging future discussions,” the group then indicated in a brief press release sent to AFP.
Stellantis, which produces Chrysler as well as Citroën, Fiat, Jeep, Dodge, Lancia, Opel, Peugeot, Ram and Vauxhall, published in July a sharp fall in first-half results, handicapped in particular by an 18% drop in sales. sales in North America, the group's cash machine. Tavares himself admitted at the end of July that Stellantis was going through a “very turbulent transition period and that he expected to recover in the second half of the year.
