Could Stellantis Break Up? Former CEO Tavares Thinks So
In New Book, Tavares Says French, Italian and US Might Have to Go Separate Ways
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Ten months after he was ousted, Stellantis NV’s former CEO says the company faces a potential breakup.
Carlos Tavares, in a new book, says that the group’s French, Italian and U.S. operations might have to go their separate ways if the maker of Jeep sport utility vehicles and Fiat cars fails to withstand pressures from various stakeholders in its home bases.
Within Stellantis, “I am worried that the three-way balance between Italy, France and the U.S. will break,” Tavares said in abookpublished Oct. 23 in France. The group’s survival as a stand-alone company will depend on management paying attention to unity “every day” given the risk of being pulled in multiple directions.
Stellantis was formed by the 2021 merger of Italy’s Fiat Chrysler and France’s PSA Group. Its sprawling empire of 14 brands — including Citroën, Opel, Dodge, Alfa Romeo and Maserati — is proving complex to navigate as car demand stagnates, Chinese manufacturers become more aggressive and geopolitical tensions mount at a time of technology upheaval for the industry.
Tavares, 67,stepped downin December following steep market share losses in the U.S. and Europe that led to a collapse in profits. Under his leadership, Stellantis shifted production and engineering operations to lower-cost countries like Morocco, a move that prompted labor union opposition, as well asangeringItaly’s government.
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Tavares’s constant job cuts and requiring employees to work from home also prompted executive departures, someleavingfor China’s BYD Co. that’s making inroads in Europe. His single-minded focus on cost cuts led to missteps on quality, pricing and product ranges.
In the book, Tavares disputes the portrayal of events that led to his departure from the company. Media representatives for Stellantis declined to comment on his book.
Stellantis’s new CEO Antonio Filosa, who took the helm in June after a monthslong search, is trying to stabilize a group that’s also dealing with the fallout of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, which are reshaping the global automotive landscape. In the U.S., Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) last year urged Stellantis to divest Jeep, Ram, Dodge and Chrysler, saying the brands belongback in the handsof American ownership.
Filosa, whom Tavares described as the “logical and rational” choice for his succession, has alreadyscrappedsome European investments andpledgedto invest $13 billion in the U.S., historically its most profitable market.
The moves have stoked concerns among labor unions in France and Italy. The new CEO’s executive appointments come mostly from the ranks of the former Fiat Chrysler, many of them with a background in Latin America, where Filosa worked for years.
“With me gone, I am not sure that the French interests that I always had at heart — whether you believe it or not — will be as well defended,” Tavares said in the book.
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Stellantis hastemporarily shutseveral sites this month in Europe, where plants operate below capacity. Filosa told Italy’s labor unionsthis weekthat more flexible European Union rules on emissions reductions will be needed before local production can bounce back.
Tavares says a split of the group’s European and North America operations is possible in the future.
“One possible scenario, and there are many others, could be a Chinese manufacturer one day making a bid for the Europe business with the Americans taking back the North America operations,” he said. This will allow a refocus on their own market, like General Motors Co. has been doing for the past 10 years, Tavares said.
