Running a car company is hard, but it is even harder when there are 14 unique, storied and legendary brands under your belt.
Multinational automaker Stellantis (STLA) , the parent company behind American automotive household names like Dodge, Jeep, and Chrysler, has faced many issues surrounding its cars and a mountain of criticism from dealers and the United Auto Workers union.
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A massive recall is currently affecting Jeep, one of its most storied brands, and the automaker is tacking on massive incentives and discounts to make a dent in massive inventories of cars, with some having a nearly two-year supply on dealer lots in the US.
Related: Stellantis is taking the UAW to Federal court over latest threat
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares is the sole scapegoat blamed for the mess, but a new report confirms that a massive chain of dramatic moves will occur at the automaker.
Stellantis's stellar management shake-up
Stellantis confirmed in a press release issued late on Oct. 10 that there will be a slew of managerial changes across the company, a revelation that followed a Bloomberg report published on Oct. 9.
The major changes include the promotion of Jeep chief executive Antonio Filosa to the position of North American chief operating officer, as well as the promotion of Jean-Philippe Imparato to the position of chief operating officer Enlarged Europe, replacing Uwe Hochgeschurtz, who will leave the company.
Additionally, Stellantis CFO Natalie King; the person behind the infamous "Doghouse" email, will be replaced by Doug Ostermann, the former COO of Stellantis China. Maserati CEO Davide Grasso will also vacate his post to a soon-to-be-announced position. His replacement Santo Ficili, will now be tasked with the CEO position at both Maserati and Alfa Romeo.
Beyond the various C-suite shifts, Tavares led some more efficiency changes "to drive commercial performance." Stellantis' Supply Chain organization will transfer to its Manufacturing Division, which will now be led under Arnaud Deboeuf, formerly from the Purchasing Division led by Maxime Picat.
Related: A massive Jeep recall is the latest of its parent company's woes
According to Stellantis, Picat will "dedicate even greater focus and expertise to the performance improvements to be achieved with our supplier partners."
In remarks, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares noted that such moves were needed to drive the company forward.
"During this Darwinian period for the automotive industry, our duty and ethical responsibility is to adapt and prepare ourselves for the future, better and faster than our competitors to deliver clean, safe and affordable mobility," said Tavares.
"The newly appointed leadership team members will make their valuable contributions to our overall team’s determination to tackle the challenges ahead, reinforcing and accelerating our transformation to become the preferred mobility tech company. I would like to thank everyone who contributed to lay the foundations for Stellantis’ future success."
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Stellantis's sly leadership surprise
Alongside the many shifts in executive managerial positions, Stellantis confirmed that its prolific CEO, Carlos Tavares, will retire in 2026 after his contract expires.
It also recognized that a "formal process to identify a successor" is underway. This process is being led by a special committee of the Stellantis board chaired by John Elkann. The automaker anticipates completing its search for Tavares' replacement by the fourth quarter of 2025.
To the average, casual observer, Carlos Tavares can be seen as an outsider within his own company.
Before Stellantis, he became the CEO of Groupe PSA in 2014. Groupe PSA, or Groupe PSA Peugeot Citroën, is the French multinational automaker that formerly comprised of current Stellantis properties Peugeot, Citroën, DS, Opel and Vauxhall.
Tavares was a figurehead in the merger between PSA and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) back in 2019, which is the reason why we have Stellantis today.
Tavares earned $39.5 million last year, a figure that UAW president Shawn Fain has criticized, according to Reuters.
"The Big Three CEOs saw their pay increase by 40% over the last four years, while [autoworkers] pay only went up by 6%," UAW President Shawn Fain said at a news conference in 2023.
In a statement to TheStreet, Sam Fiorani, the vice president of Global Vehicle Forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions LLC, said that Tavares was "earmarked" to lead PSA and FCA during its merger, but was "never expected to run the company long-term."
Fiorani sees that amidst their search, Stellantis will have to hunt high and low for a CEO prepared to take on the special kind of automaker that Stellantis is.
"Looking for a proper replacement will take time, especially if he or she comes from another company," he said.
"Stellantis is a very unique automaker because of its size and the huge number of brands it manages. A special kind of executive will be required to right this ship."
Stellantis NV STLA, was down 2.18% at last check, trading at $13.01 per share at the time of writing.
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