Carlos Tavares pushed towards the exit by Stellantis

It was a dry press release which confirmed, Sunday 1^is December, at 8:40 p.m., the information broadcast an hour earlier by the Bloomberg press agency: Carlos Tavares, the general manager (DG) of Stellantis, is leaving the automobile group “with immediate effect”. A board of directors was held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and unanimously decided on the departure of the manager, according to a French source.

The 66-year-old boss, who wanted to complete his term in January 2026, had no choice but to resign. The amount of compensation, provided for in his contract, has not yet been revealed. John Elkann, chairman of the board of directors and representative of the Agnelli family, the company's largest shareholder, thanked the one who created Stellantis by bringing together PSA and Fiat-Chrysler in 2021 “for putting us on the path to creating a global group in our industry”, according to the press release. Without further effusion.

The name of his successor has also not been announced. And for good reason, he has not yet been chosen. John Elkann, 48, will himself take over in the interim, at the head of a reshuffled executive committee. The composition of this temporary committee has not been communicated. “The process of appointing the new permanent CEO, managed by a special committee of the board of directors, is well underway, strives to reassure the press release, and it will be completed during the first half of 2025.”

This process was launched at the end of September. According to our information, two personalities are being approached internally: the Frenchman Maxime Picat, purchasing director, after having managed the group's European activities, and the Italian-Brazilian Antonio Filosa, the boss of Jeep, appointed director of activities in North America. North in October. There may also be external candidates.

What precipitated the decision of the board of directors of Stellantis, when, in an interview with EchosCarlos Tavares said on October 13 “have the unanimous support of the board and its president” pour “sprint to 2026” and finish his mandate? He would then have been 68 years old, “a good age to retire” and finally satisfy “a demand from his wife”as he had indicated to the press in Sochaux (Doubs) a few days earlier.

The “long term” versus the “sprint”

The shareholders' decision to part ways with the emblematic boss – who turned around PSA and Opel in great difficulty and succeeded in the merger with Fiat – is not linked to a further deterioration in the group's results. On the contrary, “Stellantis confirms its objectives presented to the financial community on October 31, 2024”, indicates the press release.

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