MILAN (Reuters) – Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares has resigned, the maker of Jeep, Fiat and Puegeot cars said on Sunday, adding that it aimed to launch a new one in the first half of this year find your head.
Tavares, previously considered one of the most respected executives in the auto industry, came under heavy criticism earlier this year after Stellantis issued a profit warning on 2024 results, including a forecast for a cash burn of up to 10 billion euro, with slow growth mainly blamed. sales and increasing inventories in the key North American market.
“The company’s Board of Directors, chaired by John Elkann, today accepted the resignation of Carlos Tavares as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately,” Stellantis said in a statement.
Stellantis said the process to appoint the new permanent CEO was well underway and is being managed by a special committee of the Board of Directors.
The process will be completed in the first half of 2025, the report said, adding that a new interim executive committee, chaired by Elkann, will be established.
Tavares was expected to retire at the end of his term in early 2026.
Tavares has led Stellantis, the world’s fourth-largest carmaker by turnover, since it was founded in early 2021 through the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot owner PSA.
Stellantis’ main investor is the Agnelli family, founder of Fiat, through investment company EXOR. Elkann, the scion of the Agnelli family, is also CEO of Exor.
Stellantis shares have lost about 40% of their value this year.
(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari, editing by Peter Graff, Gianluca Semeraro)
