Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Automotive News
  • Automobilwoche
  • Automotive News Canada
  • Automotive News China
Subscribe
  • Subscribe
  • Newsletters
  • Login
  • HOME
    • Latest news
    • Automakers
    • Suppliers
    • New Product
    • Environment/Emissions
    • Sales By Market
    • On The Move
    • Auto Shows
    • Honda unveils its new Level 3 tech, but how does it work?
      Aston Martin boss Stroll has big plans for F1 team
      VW brand will accelerate electric vehicle shift
      Brembo-MAIN.jpg
      Brembo quarterly net profit up 18% despite COVID hit
    • VW brand will accelerate electric vehicle shift
      Spain will use EU funds for EV battery plant with VW's Seat, Iberdrola
      Porsche adds Taycan electric wagon, stepping up Tesla challenge
      Stellantis will increase pace of EV launches in Europe, U.S.
    • Opel Mokka 2020
      Stellantis battery JV seeks contracts with other automakers
      Sogefi appoints new CEO, virus weighs on 2020 results
      3BIDEN-MAIN_i.jpg
      Biden to press for $37 billion to boost chip output amid shortage
      Continental grille web.jpg
      Continental invests in object recognition startup
    • 6DEFENDER-MAIN_i.jpg
      Bigger Land Rover Defender confirmed by JLR
      Porsche adds Taycan electric wagon, stepping up Tesla challenge
      Toyota will stay in Europe's minicar segment while others electrify or leave
      Mercedes preps debut of EQE EV, a Tesla Model S rival
    • Valeo joins Bosch, GM, others in pledge for carbon neutrality
      GMEVBarra-MAIN_i.jpg
      GM aims to stop selling gasoline vehicles by 2035 in carbon neutrality pledge
      VW will appeal $20M Spanish diesel compensation ruling
      Death of diesel looms as automakers accelerate to electric future
    • UK sales plunge 36% in worst February since 1959
      Spain's February sales fell 38% in 'perfect storm'
      German sales plunge 19% in worst February since 2007
      Italy sales dropped 12% in February but incentives boosted demand from private buyers
    • Toyota names new CEO for Europe
      Audi appoints former Porsche exec as finance chief
      Sogefi appoints new CEO, virus weighs on 2020 results
      Audi's new chief engineer will accelerate EV push
    • Geneva Auto Show
    • Frankfurt Auto Show
    • Paris Auto Show
    • Beijing Auto Show
    • Shanghai Auto Show
  • Features
    • Long Read
    • Interview of the Month
    • Focus on Electrification
    • Focus on Mobility
    • Segment Analysis
    • Latest Launches
    • Supplier Spotlight
    • Europe By The Numbers
    • Apple, Nio, other auto newcomers get creative to avoid Tesla's 'production hell'
      How Amazon, Google are transforming the auto industry
      EV-only future looks closer than ever in Europe
      European car retailing poised for shake-up as 'agency' model gains support
    • Renault CEO bets on 'winning horses' for turnaround
      Nvidia CEO says software will soon define the car, drive profit
      Tavares: Keeping PSA, FCA merger on track an 'incredible' achievement
      Renault CEO outlines ambitious revival plan
    • VW brand will accelerate electric vehicle shift
      Spain will use EU funds for EV battery plant with VW's Seat, Iberdrola
      Stellantis will increase pace of EV launches in Europe, U.S.
      Opel Mokka 2020
      Stellantis battery JV seeks contracts with other automakers
    • Honda unveils its new Level 3 tech, but how does it work?
      Honda to sell limited batch of Level 3 self-driving cars
      VW tests self-driving taxis in Germany ahead of 2025 launch
      A 'genius idea' gets a second chance in Renault's mobility strategy
    • EVs make huge gains helped by incentives, tougher CO2 rules
      EVs, surging SUVs to hit Europe's biggest segment
      Wagons hold market share, but costly EV shift looms
      Electrification gains speed in Europe's key compact segment
    • Porsche adds Taycan electric wagon, stepping up Tesla challenge
      Hyundai counts on Bayon's 'distinctive' design to make small SUV stand out
      Mercedes positions C-Class as sportier S-Class
      Nissan Qashqai gets better handling thanks to new platform
    • How GKN is transforming to gain from e-powertrain shift
      Marelli CEO expects e-powertrains to provide long-term boost
      Veoneer boss expects to reach key milestone this quarter
      How Faurecia aims to become a hydrogen leader
    • Europe sales by model, January: Porsche, Lamborghini, Volvo defy down market; Toyota Yaris No. 1-seller for the month, VW Golf finishes 4th
      Top 10 sellers by market, January: Skoda Octavia finishes No. 1 or No. 2 in eight markets
      Russia sales fall 4% in January as rebound stalls
      CORRECTED: Turkey sales, January: Ford, Kia, Opel, BMW rise
  • Opinion
    • Blogs
    • Commentary
    • Guest columnists
    • geely.jpg
      Why Geely wants to be a contract manufacturer
      Jaguar Land Rover Gerry McGovern
      Gerry McGovern is right man to steer Jaguar reinvention
      A 'genius idea' gets a second chance in Renault's mobility strategy
      Skoda connectivity features need to offer more 'must-have' allure
    • Understanding the impact of design on marketing, brand and user experience
      Ex-Aston Martin CEO Palmer calls on UK to intensify battery commitment
      Why Apple must target the $230B luxury car market
      Apple car: Who will build it? Magna Steyr possible candidate
  • Photos
    • Photo Galleries
    • Geneva Photo Gallery
    • Beijing Photo Gallery
    • Frankfurt Photo Gallery
    • Paris Photo Gallery
    • Shanghai Photo Gallery
    • taycan_cross_1.jpg
      view gallery
      7 photos
      Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo
      view gallery
      11 photos
      Volvo C40 Recharge
      view gallery
      11 photos
      Hyundai Bayon
      view gallery
      9 photos
      Honda HR-V Hybrid
    • koenigsegg-gemera-front-quarter-passenger-01.jpg
      view gallery
      14 photos
      Koenigsegg Gemera
      view gallery
      21 photos
      Fiat New 500
      view gallery
      11 photos
      Aston Martin V12 Speedster
      view gallery
      13 photos
      Audi A3 Sportback 2020
    • At the Beijing show, sales rebound and EV boom mix with murky outlook
      3BEIJING-MAIN_i.jpg
      Beijing show to highlight competition for local EV makers
      Beijing auto show delayed due to coronavirus
      Maserati will unveil Ghibli hybrid at Beijing show
    • view gallery
      11 photos
      Mercedes-Benz Vision EQS
      view gallery
      11 photos
      Renault Captur
      view gallery
      5 photos
      Mercedes-Benz AMG GLB 53
      view gallery
      10 photos
      Mercedes-AMG GLE 53 Coupe
    • view gallery
      8 photos
      VinFast Lux A2.0 sedan
      view gallery
      8 photos
      VinFast Lux SA2.0 SUV
      view gallery
      9 photos
      Seat Tarraco
      view gallery
      7 photos
      Toyota Corolla station wagon
    • view gallery
      4 photos
      Nio ET Preview
      view gallery
      7 photos
      Infiniti Qs Inspiration concept
      view gallery
      5 photos
      BMW 3-series LWB
      view gallery
      9 photos
      Mini Clubman
  • Podcasts
  • Car Cutaways
  • EVENTS
    • ANE Congress Conversations
    • ANE Shift
    • ANE Rising Stars
    • ANE Eurostars
    • ANE Leading Women
    • Watch Again
      • July 9: EU green deal in the COVID-19 new normal
      • July 16: Assisted or Autonomous Driving
      • July 23: Challenges in Electrification
      • July 30: The Road Ahead for Europe
    • Meet the 2020 winners
    • Watch the 2020 Rising Stars awards again
  • More
    • Publishing Partners
    • Social Media
    • Contact Us
    • Media Kit
    • About Us
    • Capgemini: Securing the industry's future through a radical rethink
    • Capgemini: Succeeding with the automated driving journey through AI
    • Toyota Europe
    • UFI Filters
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. FCA-PSA MERGER
January 17, 2021 08:35 AM

Spotlight will find low-key Tavares as he takes over new empire at Stellantis

Bloomberg
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print

    As CEO of Stellantis, Carlos Tavares will be leading an automotive group with 400,000 employees and 14 brands, with strong positions in both Europe and North America.
     

    The just-finalized merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA Group to create Stellantis will raise the global profile of an under-the-radar chief executive who will lead a vast and massively complex carmaker with quiet intensity.

    The market debut this week of Stellantis will function as coming-out party for CEO Carlos Tavares, who held the same title at PSA. Tavares has spent a 40-year career rising up the ladder of an industry that birthed the modern day celebrity CEO, engineering impressive turnarounds while largely going unrecognized taking commercial flights in and out of Detroit.

    The wiry, hyperactive 62-year-old Tavares has shown little desire to be another Lee Iacocca, Dieter Zetsche, Sergio Marchionne or Carlos Ghosn. But whether he comes around to the spotlight or not, he will get much more of it steering an empire of roughly 400,000 employees and 14 brands into an uncertain future, where cars increasingly run off of batteries and software, and the combustion engine meets its demise.

    “He’s not selling Carlos, and he doesn’t want to,” said Jim Press, an auto executive who worked with Tavares when the latter headed Nissan’s North American operations. “He develops people and organizations. The guy is a great businessman.”

    DAILY NEWSLETTER: Sign up and get the top news of the day in Europe every business weekday.

    Automotive mega-mergers have failed in simpler times. Before Daimler’s disastrous combination with Chrysler around the turn of the century, PSA’s archrival Renault acquired American Motors in a doomed deal the French company reversed from a little over a decade later.

    For Tavares to succeed with Stellantis, he will have to do more than just streamline and slash costs, the playbook he followed in bringing PSA back from the brink. The self-described “performance psychopath” also will have to prove his product chops and catch up on electrification in an era when little seems to matter more to investors.

    Tavares has competed in more than 500 races as an amateur driver.

    Racing roots

    Born and raised in Lisbon, Tavares displayed his early passion as a 14-year-old volunteer at the Estoril track. He has since competed in more than 500 races as an amateur driver and has said he became an engineer because he lacked the talent and money to race professionally. He was scheduled to drive a Lancia Stratos at the Monte Carlo historic rally this month before Covid-19 forced its cancellation.

    After graduating from one of France’s top engineering schools, Tavares started his career at Renault in 1981. He headed up partner Nissan’s North America operations for two years before becoming No. 2 to Ghosn at Renault in 2011.

    In an unusual power play for a top job, he told Bloomberg News in 2013 that since Ghosn was planning to stick around, he would be interested in running GM or Ford He left Renault within weeks and took the helm of almost-bankrupt PSA six months later.

    The French state and China’s Dongfeng Motor bailed out PSA by participating in a share sale and 3 billion-euro capital raise.

    Tavares pruned the model lineup, cut costs and raised vehicle prices. PSA turned its first annual profit in three years.

    He applied similar tactics with Opel and Vauxhall, the brands GM sold to PSA in 2017 after racking up about $20 billion in losses over two decades. By slashing development spending and buying out thousands of workers, he swiftly pushed those operations into the black.

    “The Tavares factor was probably the most underestimated” of PSA’s 2014 turnaround plan, said Societe Generale auto analyst Stephen Reitman. “Opel Vauxhall was seen as maybe a step too far, but he proved that by patiently going around and reasoning with people, they would reconsider positions that had contributed to 20 years of losses.”

    Tavares helped revive the money-losing Opel/Vauxhall brnd with new models based on PSA Group platforms, such as the battery-powered Corsa-e.

    A five-slide rule

    Bloomberg News spoke with half a dozen people who have worked closely with Tavares. They describe him as ultra-competitive with a dogged attention to detail. He doesn’t tolerate meetings starting late or dragging on and asks underlings to make presentations in five slides or less.

    Tavares shuns the annual gathering of business elite that Ghosn frequented in Davos, Switzerland, and shows up to glitzy car shows in scuffed-up shoes. He often spends weekends tinkering on cars at his suburban Paris home.

    As head of Stellantis, he’ll answer to dynastic shareholders -- the Agnellis, led by Chairman John Elkann, as well as the Peugeots -- and politics will play an outsize role. The French state will retain a stake in the merged company, and Italy’s deputy economy minister has hinted its government may acquire a shareholding as well.

    PSA’s outgoing Chairman Louis Gallois has said that since Tavares’s roots are in Portugal, where he owns a vineyard and small vintage-car business, he’ll be an effective neutral arbiter.

    Stellantis will be an amalgam of model lines with a strong presence in North America’s lucrative truck and SUV segments, thanks to Fiat Chrysler’s Ram and Jeep divisions. PSA’s revitalized Peugeot and Citroen brands also have excelled in Europe and are the envy of Renault.

    Yet Stellantis won’t have much of a foothold in the luxury-car business. The Alfa Romeo and Maserati lines are struggling and PSA’s DS is tiny. Fiat Chrysler and PSA also have stumbled in China’s vast auto market.

    “Tavares knows that if the Chinese market is a medium- or long-term goal, Europe is right now Stellantis’ most compelling challenge,” said Carlo Alberto Carnevale Maffe, a professor at Bocconi University in Milan. “He needs to act by cutting costs, recovering profitability and investing in a range of technologies.”

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Honda unveils its new Level 3 tech, but how does it work?
    Recommended for You
    Honda unveils its new Level 3 tech, but how does it work?
    Honda unveils its new Level 3 tech, but how does it work?
    Aston Martin boss Stroll has big plans for F1 team
    Aston Martin boss Stroll has big plans for F1 team
    VW brand will accelerate electric vehicle shift
    VW brand will accelerate electric vehicle shift
    Succeeding with the automated driving journey through AI
    Sponsored Content: Succeeding with the automated driving journey through AI
    Sign up for free newsletters
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    You can unsubscribe at any time through links in these emails. For more information, see our Privacy Policy.

    Get Free Newsletters

    Sign up and get the best of Automotive News Europe delivered straight to your email inbox, free of charge. Choose your news – we will deliver.

    You can unsubscribe at any time through links in these emails. For more information, see our Privacy Policy.

    SUBSCRIBE TODAY

    Get 24/7 access to in-depth, authoritative coverage of the auto industry from a global team of reporters and editors covering the news that’s vital to your business.

    SUBSCRIBE NOW
    Connect with Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • Instagram

    Founded in 1996, Automotive News Europe is the preferred information source for decision-makers and opinion leaders operating in Europe.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI  48207-2997
    Tel: +1 877-812-1584

    Email Us

    ISSN 2643-6590 (print)
    ISSN 2643-6604 (online)

     

    Resources
    • About us
    • Contact Us
    • 2020 Media Kit
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Awards
    • Rising Stars
    • Eurostars
    • Leading Women
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Automotive News Europe
    Copyright © 1996-2021. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • HOME
      • Latest news
      • Automakers
      • Suppliers
      • New Product
      • Environment/Emissions
      • Sales By Market
      • On The Move
      • Auto Shows
        • Geneva Auto Show
        • Frankfurt Auto Show
        • Paris Auto Show
        • Beijing Auto Show
        • Shanghai Auto Show
    • Features
      • Long Read
      • Interview of the Month
      • Focus on Electrification
      • Focus on Mobility
      • Segment Analysis
      • Latest Launches
      • Supplier Spotlight
      • Europe By The Numbers
    • Opinion
      • Blogs
      • Commentary
      • Guest columnists
    • Photos
      • Photo Galleries
      • Geneva Photo Gallery
      • Beijing Photo Gallery
      • Frankfurt Photo Gallery
      • Paris Photo Gallery
      • Shanghai Photo Gallery
    • Podcasts
    • Car Cutaways
    • EVENTS
      • ANE Congress Conversations
        • Watch Again
          • July 9: EU green deal in the COVID-19 new normal
          • July 16: Assisted or Autonomous Driving
          • July 23: Challenges in Electrification
          • July 30: The Road Ahead for Europe
      • ANE Shift
      • ANE Rising Stars
        • Meet the 2020 winners
        • Watch the 2020 Rising Stars awards again
      • ANE Eurostars
      • ANE Leading Women
    • More
      • Publishing Partners
        • Capgemini: Securing the industry's future through a radical rethink
        • Capgemini: Succeeding with the automated driving journey through AI
        • Toyota Europe
        • UFI Filters
      • Social Media
        • Facebook
        • Instagram
        • LinkedIn
        • Twitter
      • Contact Us
      • Media Kit
      • About Us