No contract extension for Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares
Because the Supervisory Board of the Stellantis car company is apparently no longer convinced by the course of CEO Tavares, his contract is due to end in 2026.
(Image: Stellantis)
Carlos Tavares, CEO of car manufacturer Stellantis, is not to be given an extension option after his contract ends at the beginning of 2026. This has been reported by various media. Since the merger of the French PSA Group and the Italian-American Fiat-Chrysler Group at the beginning of 2021, Tavares has been CEO of the company with 14 car brands. Previously, the Portuguese had already managed the current Stellantis brands Peugeot, Citroën and Opel, among others.
When asked by the Bloomberg news agency, Stellantis confirmed that the supervisory board under its chairman John Elkann was already "regularly" searching for a successor to Tavares. The 66-year-old is involved in arranging his own succession and will retain his position until the end of his contract. Possible successors under discussion include the current Renault boss Luca de Meo, the current Alfa Romeo boss Jean-Philippe Imparato and Olivier François, currently CEO of Fiat and Abarth.
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Tavares is firmly committed to the EU's COâ‚‚ limits
It is assumed that the Supervisory Board does not agree with Tavares' long-term course, which has led to the European brands running comparatively profitably, while those in North America in particular are slowly losing ground. Sales figures fell by 18Â percent in the first half of 2024 and the traditional Chrysler, Dodge, Ram and Jeep brands in particular are under pressure. Stellantis' net profit shrank by 48Â percent in this period.
It was only on September 20 that Tavares spoke clearly at an event about the problematic situation in the European car industry: In contrast to other company representatives, he remained strictly opposed to any softening of the COâ‚‚ limits long since adopted by the EU. He mentioned Volkswagen by name. "Stellantis must become climate-neutral by 2038. The European Union has called on us to reduce emissions. New regulations will be adopted in 2025. My cars are ready, my people are ready and our factories are ready. So why hesitate? Is global warming no longer a problem? Right now, half of Portugal is on fire," said Tavares, referring to the major forest fires in his home country.
Just recently, the Stellantis brand Citroën launched the ë-C3 electric car, which faces internal competition from the Chinese Leapmotor T03 subcompact. Both cars are expected to cost less than 20,000 euros in the basic version and should help to open up a broader customer base for the electric car.
(fpi)