Almost a year since Carlos Tavares announced his resignation “with immediate effect” as CEO of the Stellantis group. The architect of the merger between PSA and Fiat-Chrysler at the beginning of 2021, to give rise to this global giant made up of 14 brands, slammed the door after being harshly criticized for the company’s mismanagement and its worrying results.
A repentant “acting psychopath”
In a book, A pilot in the stormpublished by Plon this Thursday, October 23, the manager takes stock of his new life and “is delighted to manage hotels, vineyards, a vintage car restoration workshop and other investments made, with his family, in Portugal”, as summarized in an article in World.
“I discovered after forty-three years of professional life that it is much better to work for yourself than for others,” we can read three times in his book.
A sign of return to calm that is visibly appreciated by this 67-year-old man, who has always been considered obsessed with cost reduction and a certain race for profitability. In a recent interview with Spot Quoted by Caradisiac, he also regretted having proclaimed himself a “performance psychopath”:
“I stopped using this expression a bit at the request of the unions and my wife. It sounds too much like ‘serial killer,'” he explains.
A resignation “for his grandchildren”?
Carlos Tavares also analyzes the circumstances of his departure: “a strategic plan validated” in 2024 and which sought to reinforce the group’s investments in electricity, going against the grain of competitors who were then slowing down their production. “However, some members of the board of directors wanted to postpone things,” he explains, thus confirming what was mentioned a few days after the announcement of this decision.
“One afternoon in December, John Elkann, president of Stellantis, called me and mentioned a loss of confidence in me. Trust is mutual. I was there to execute a valid plan and they told me ‘no, you have to go back to the box,'” summarizes this motorsports enthusiast.
Surprisingly for the director of an automobile giant, he justifies his departure due to a certain ecological awareness and the consequences of this change initiated at Stellantis:
“It goes against the interests of my grandchildren because the fuse is the planet. Who cares about global warming today? To me, when in summer in Portugal it is 46° and the fires destroy 220,000 hectares. So I told Elkann that it was better to separate us.”
Contacted, Stellantis declined to comment on recent comments made by Carlos Tavares in his book or in an interview.
Leapmotor, a Trojan horse from China in Stellantis?
The former CEO of Stellantis is also very critical of Brussels’ decision to transition to the sale of only new electric cars in 2035, which he considers a collective punishment for manufacturers after the Dieselgate episode:
“The European Commission’s biggest mistake was taking revenge on the European car industry after dieselgate in 2015, instead of attacking only Volkswagen, which had cheated on the CO2 emissions of its engines. It became dogmatic and did not listen to the manufacturers at all.”
For him, this choice explains the arrival of Chinese manufacturers in Europe, with certain technological advances in electrical matters. In this context and while the European industry is sounding the alarm, it regrets that the European States are not aligned with the 2035 objective and believes that “there are three too many factories in Europe.”
More surprisingly, it returns to the case of Leapmotor, this young Chinese manufacturer in which Stellantis invested in 2024 and therefore under its management. The group then acquired 21% of Leapmotor’s capital and 51% of a joint venture that manages its business development outside China.
“I have always wondered why the Chinese Leapmotor accepted the agreement according to which Stellantis took over 21% of the company and 51% of its business outside China. I only have one answer: one day, if Stellantis breaks down, it will be in a position to buy it back,” he told Le Point.
An element that he also addresses in his book, evoking this “bet” by Leapmotor that would expect new financial difficulties from Stellantis “to enter capital with a technology versus equity scheme.” In other words, take control of Stellantis’ European activities.
A group that could finally be dismantled and, parallel to this Chinese threat, on the other side of the Atlantic “the Americans would take charge of North American activities to return to their only market, as GM (General Motors) has been doing for about ten years.”
A fictional industry scenario that remains credible in an automobile world in full turmoil. The new CEO of Stellantis, the Italian Antonio Filosa, has just delayed the presentation of the next strategic plan to the first half of 2026, which is never a good sign in such a turbulent environment.
Source: BFM TV
