Former Stellantis boss Carlos Tavares has insisted his departure from the carmaker was ‘amicable’ amid talk of a bust up with the board.
Car Dealer reported at the end of November that Tavares was standing down from his position as CEO with immediate effect, having previously planned to retire in early 2026.
Several reports have since suggested that the experienced leader clashed with other members of the board but the 66-year-old has now insisted that the split was on good terms.
However, speaking to Portuguese newspaper Expresso, Tavares did admit that his departure came after ‘disagreements over strategy’.
While not going into details over what the specific differences of opinion were about, Reuters reports that the ultimate decision for him to stand down was made jointly by Tavares himself and chairman John Elkann.
The same report quotes ‘sources familiar with the matter’ who say that the change of leadership was due to targets, which Tavares set, but other board members deemed ‘unrealistic or destructive’.
In his Expresso interview, Tavares said that the objective behind his departure was to ‘protect the company so that a difference in points of view wouldn’t create the risk of misaligning the company.’
He added: ‘A company that has 250,000 employees, revenues of 190 billion euros, 15 brands that it sells all over the world, is not a company that can be managed with a lack of alignment – which immediately has an impact on strategic management.’
He added that he was ‘not at all’ hurt by the decision and instead he would not have done anything differently.
Meanwhile, work to appoint his successor is now well underway with Stellantis creating a ‘Special Committee of the Board’ to find the right person.
The firm remains ‘committed to ‘ensuring the continuity of the ongoing projects’ meaning that the new appointment is thought to be unlikely to overturn the decision to close the firm’s Vauxhall plant in Luton.
Staff at the site are today protesting the decision and you can read more about that here.
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