Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares Set To Step Down By 2026

Stellantis confirmed CEO Carlos Tavares will step down when his contract expires in early 2026 and announced major changes to senior management as it struggles to turn around its ailing North American operations.

Earnings and sales at the automaker’s traditional profit centre have been falling, forcing it to cut its 2024 profit forecast last week and signal possible cuts to its dividend and share buybacks next year.

Analysts have downgraded the company’s shares, whose shares on the Milan stock exchange have fallen by 42% this year. Stellantis made some missteps in North America, where sales of popular products such as Jeep and Ram pickups typically bring in most of the profits.

Confirmation of Tavares’ retirement plans comes weeks after Stellantis announced they were looking for his successor, although it was said at the time that it was possible he could stay on beyond the end of his contract. The world’s fourth-largest automaker by sales said it now plans to name a successor by the fourth quarter of 2025.

Stellantis has named Doug Osterman, the former chief operating officer of the China division, as chief financial officer, replacing Natalie Knight, who is leaving the company.

The automaker also named Antonio Filosa as its chief operating officer for North America in addition to his role as CEO of the Jeep brand, succeeding Carlos Zarlenga, whose future role has not been announced.

Tavares, an avid racing car driver who was widely praised in previous years for making Stellantis one of the world’s most profitable automakers, led the company from its inception through the merger of Fiat-Chrysler and Peugeot maker PSA.

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