Earthquake in Stellantis, CEO Carlos Tavares resigns.

The Board of Directors, meeting under the chairmanship of John Elkann, accepted his resignation as Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect. The process for the appointment of a new permanent CEO is already underway, managed by a Special Committee of the Board, and will be concluded by the first half of 2025.

In the meantime, a new Executive Committee chaired by John Elkann will be established. Stellantis confirms the guidance presented to the financial community on October 31, 2024 in relation to the full-year 2024 results.

“The success of Stellantis since its creation has been based on a perfect alignment between the key shareholders, the Board and the CEO. However, in recent weeks , different views have emerged that have led the Board and the CEO to today’s decision ,” said Stellantis Senior Independent Director Henri de Castrie.

"It was time for Tavares to leave," writes Tommaso Foti, leader of the Brothers of Italy group in the Chamber, in a note, "but the transition to the new management requires responsibility, protection of employment and valorization of skills. It is therefore even more important that John Elkann appear in Parliament as soon as possible to report on the future of Stellantis ."

Who is Carlos Tavares?

Carlos Tavares was the protagonist of the merger between PSA and FCA, the marriage from which Stellantis was born: a long-time manager with a career that spanned the major car manufacturers. Decisive in his choices and in dealing with the government and unions. "I'm not a magician, I'm a human being like you," he recently admitted, when Stellantis had already announced last September that it had started the search for his possible successor in 2026.

A statement that, after his last speech in Parliament, followed by bitter political controversy, seemed to admit the difficulties of those who, in the current context, find themselves managing an automotive group . The difficult sales and the loss of market share, the ecological transition to manage, the recourse to CIG in many factories, the complicated confrontations with the Italian government: Tavares was the face of all this.