International automaker Stellantis has confirmed that his long-tenured CEO, Carlos Tavares, will retire when his present contract expires in early 2026. The information was joined by further govt shakeups as Stellantis has named new chiefs for its European and North American operations as properly.
Carlos Tavares has been a mainstay within the world automotive trade properly earlier than Stellantis existed in its present iteration. The Portuguese govt joined Renault at an early age within the Eighties earlier than working for Nissan within the mid-2000s by way of its alliance with Renault (now the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance).
In 2011, Tavares labored beneath Carlos Ghosn because the chief working officer of Renault earlier than butting heads with the controversial CEO and leaving the corporate in 2013. A yr later, Tavares was again within the trade as CEO and chairman of the managing board of Peugeot S.A., the place he led the acquisition of Opel and spearheaded the merger with Fiat Chrysler that might ultimately evolve into Stellantis.
Carlos Tavares was the first-ever CEO of Stellantis and has held the reigns since, discovering loads of success whereas additionally placing his foot in his mouth on a number of events, particularly because the trade continues to shift towards going all-electric.
Following rumors that started to swirl this previous September, Stellantis has confirmed the Tavares period will come to an finish when the CEO’s present contract expires, and it now has about one yr to call his successor.
Stellantis to call its subsequent CEO by late 2025
As reported by Automotive Information Europe, Stellantis has confirmed present CEO Carlos Tavares will step down and retire when his contract expires in early 2026. The information follows earlier stories that the automotive conglomerate was looking for a successor. Nevertheless, Stellantis mentioned there was nonetheless an opportunity Tavares might proceed as its chief working officer after his contract expires.
Per Stellantis, chairman John Elkann is main a particular committee overseeing the search to discover a successor to Tavares and expects to call that particular person by This autumn 2025.
Whereas we await that information, Stellantis has introduced a number of different personnel modifications efficient instantly. Jean-Philippe Imparato has been appointed chief working officer for Stellantis Europe and can stay CEO of the Professional One LCV division. He’ll substitute present COO Uwe Hochgeschurtz, who’s leaving the corporate.
Santo Ficili will take over as CEO of Alfa Romeo and Maserati, inheriting the earlier management roles of Imparto and Davide Grasso, respectively. Stellantis has not introduced Grasso’s subsequent place or whether or not he’ll stay with the corporate.
Present Jeep CEO Antonio Filosa will tackle a brand new twin function that now contains chief working officer of Stellantis North America, taking on for Carlos Zarlenga, whose subsequent function has but to be shared publicly.
Trying again, Tavares’ run as CEO of PSA and Stellantis options loads of success and management. Nevertheless, current years have confirmed tougher for the world’s fourth-largest automaker, particularly gross sales in North America.
The corporate just lately lowered its annual forecast from optimistic money circulation to damaging, sending its inventory tumbling. Whereas the prospect of recent management on the CEO might assist ease buyers’ worries, the instant govt shakeups (21 senior administration modifications within the final 12 months) exemplify a struggling firm’s efforts to search out its footing.
Regardless of Tavares’ waffling over EV adoption, he helped set Stellantis on a path to make 100% of its passenger automobile gross sales in Europe and 50% of passenger automobiles and light-duty vehicles within the US to be EVs by 2030. Stellantis and Tavares’ successor should decide up the items and push ahead when the present CEO retires.
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