unions rejoice at the departure of Carlos Tavares

Several unions from Stellantis and the automobile industry welcomed on Monday the departure of the group's general director, Carlos Tavares, criticized for his relentless management methods and his waves of job cuts. Shawn Fain, director of the powerful American union United Auto Workers (UAW), welcomed “an important step in the right direction for a company that has been poorly run and a mistreated workforce”.

Thousands of UAW members have been calling for the resignation of Carlos Tavares for several weeks because of his “irresponsible management”underlined Shawn Fain in a message published by CNBC. The board of directors of Stellantis, owner in particular of the Peugeot, Citroën, Fiat, Chrysler, Opel, Lancia and Jeep brands, unanimously accepted the resignation on Sunday “with immediate effect” of Carlos Tavares, whose successor will be appointed in the first half of 2025.

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Stellantis announces the immediate departure of its emblematic boss Carlos Tavares

“Different points of view”

This decision is the result of “different points of view” between the board of directors and the general manager, explained Henri de Castries, director of Stellantis. According to Shawn Fain, Mr. Tavares leaves behind “a chaos made of painful layoffs and overpriced vehicles abandoned in dealership parking lots”. In France, the Force Ouvrière (FO) section of Stellantis, however, condemned a “rushed decision”Who “weakens the entire company and its thousands of employees”.

“Stellantis, a true industrial liner, needs more than ever a strong and visionary captain to navigate this economic and strategic storm”underlined the French union. The choice not to appoint a new manager before the first half of 2025 creates a “certain instability”according to FO. For Stellantis' CGT, Carlos Tavares “is not to be complained about and no worker will regret it” a leader “which massacred jobs and destroyed thousands of families”. “On the other hand, what will be the check for his starting amount? 50 million? 100 million?”asked the French union.

In Italy, the UILM union asked for «rupture» to the next leader of Stellantis, with priority to be given to “Italian workers and factories”notably at Maserati, whose sales have collapsed. “Tavares is gone, the problems remain for the workers”underlined Maurizio Oreggia, coordinator of the Italian FIOM union. “We immediately need an industrial plan to load the factories”while Italian production collapsed, and “relaunch the group”he said.