Carlos Tavares ran out of time at Stellantis just as the golden handshake of a 2026 retirement package began to appear on the horizon.
Tavares fell on his own sword after what Stellantis independent director Henri de Castris described as “different points of view” that emerged in the company’s boardroom, leaving the 66-year-old Portuguese boss’s position untenable.
The unexpected nature of the announcement marks a fittingly climactic end for one of Europe’s highest-paid CEOs, a man who has shown an ability to turn around legacy automakers with controversy along the way.
It seems fitting that Tavares, who has repeatedly touted the benefits of this “Darwinism” in the auto industry, should be the latest victim of its current upheaval.
‘Petrol head’ Tavares runs off the road
For all the perceived faults that led to his sudden, untimely resignation, Tavares cannot be accused of half-heartedly handling his role as head of one of the world’s biggest carmakers.
He was named one of Fortune magazine’s 100 The most powerful people in November thanks to his seemingly iron grip on a company that earned nearly $205 billion in revenue last year.
On his Automotive Life & Vision Facebook pageTavares describes himself as a “gasoline head”. He has been photographed driving vintage race cars and often attends car events on his weekends off.
AND profile of Tavares in World in early 2023 summed up what made Tavares so successful in his early years, but also proved to be a prophecy of his downfall.
The former French Minister of Finance, Bruno Le Maire, described for World Taveres’ love for all things automotive.
“He’s a real race car driver, who knows the difference between a titanium bolt and an aluminum bolt,” Le Maire said. “He can refuse a meeting with the head of state because he has a scheduled race that day.”
Tavares was parachuted into Peugeot-owned PSA Group in 2014 as the French carmaker flirted with bankruptcy. His arrival at Peugeot followed a public struggle at his former company Renault, where he publicly under pressure then-CEO Carlos Ghosn to hand over more power to Tavares.
He is credited with turning around Peugeot, which led to a merger with Fiat-Chrysler that created Stellantis, and Tavares was tapped to run it in 2021. Since the merger, Tavares has been well rewarded, collecting $77 million in compensation.
Pierre Moscovici, a fellow former French finance minister, described Tavares World as “samurai, obsessed with work, demanding, cold, fast and extremely efficient”.
This was illustrated by Tavares driving the Peugeot. His enthusiasm for cutting costs and obsession with efficiency meant he butted heads at all levels of the company. Although PSA became profitable, employee satisfaction declined. World published a Kantar survey of 6.2 out of 10 for workplace well-being among 260,000 Peugeot employees.
Throughout his tenure as the leading automaker, Tavares spoke of “Darwinism” in the auto industry, arguing that only the strongest companies would survive. It’s a point he reiterated amid an influx of cheaper Chinese models into Europe.
Tavares’ combative approach to business appears to have been a winning strategy while Stellantis was at the top, but it has proved its Achilles’ heel as the automaker grapples with declining revenue and profits.
Tavares has been tapped to leave Stellantis in 2026 as part of a soft retirement plan announced only in October, and the chief executive will also reshuffle the automaker’s global board of directors in a bid to turn around its falling fortunes in the meantime.
The problems with Stellantis remain
For Stellantis, the same problems that bothered its competitors remain. Falling global demand, the emergence of low-cost Chinese competitors and the faltering adoption of electric vehicles prompted Stellantis to issue a profit warning in September.
In the US, where Stellantis owns the Jeep and Ram brands, analysts and dealers have sharply criticized the push for premiumization. Investment research group Bernstein accused Stellantis of having “a mistaken belief in one’s own pricing power,” with one Stellantis dealer saying the company had alienated its loyal customer base with six-figure prices.
The automaker’s market share in the US has fallen in recent years from double-digit percentages to 7%, although there are hopes for a recovery.
However, investors don’t seem convinced that Tavares is the cause of those problems. Shares of Stellantis fell as much as 8.9% in early morning trading following Sunday’s news.
Tavares, meanwhile, is looking forward to retired life in Portugal, where he runs a vineyard and a vintage car restoration business.
A representative for Stellantis did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
