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Stellantis has announced a radical global management shake-up as the European carmaker behind the Peugeot, Fiat and Jeep brands seeks to reverse its fortunes amid declining profits and steep production cuts.
The carmaker said on Thursday night that Antonio Filosa, CEO of Jeep, would be the new head of its US operations, and Doug Ostermann would replace Natalie Knight as group chief financial officer. The Maserati and Alfa Romeo marques would have a new chief executive, and there would be new chief operating officers for the China and Europe regions.
Chief executive Carlos Tavares said that “during this Darwinian period for the automotive industry our duty and ethical responsibility is to adapt”.
A profit warning last month from the Paris-listed car group highlighted its struggles in fending off Chinese electric vehicle competition and the waning demand it was suffering in its main markets, including the US, where inventories have been piling up.
Stellantis had expected positive cash flow this year, but warned that it now expected outflows in the range of €5bn-€10bn. It also changed its adjusted operating margin guidance for the year from 10 per cent to between 5.5 per cent and 7 per cent.
Tom Narayan, analyst at RBC Capital Markets, questioned the management shake-up, saying the challenges at the group stem from aggressive pricing in North America and high dealer inventories. “It is unclear therefore how these management changes will reverse trends,” he said in a note, adding that the latest decisions, on top of Tavares’s term ending in 2026, would “add more uncertainty for Stellantis’ prospects”.
Stellantis shares have almost halved in value since last year as the Chrysler and Jeep manufacturer has tried to turn around its US business by aiming to reduce high levels of inventory by a quarter by early 2025.
The group has also locked horns with governments in Europe over EV subsidies, threatening to move production abroad and cut local jobs.
Tavares will face lawmakers in Rome on Friday where he is expected to be grilled over the group’s plans for its Italian plants where a total of 10,000 workers have been furloughed amid waning demand.
In June Stellantis, which owns the Vauxhall brand in the UK, also warned it would move production abroad unless the British government made changes to its electrification policy and did more to support EV sales.
Stellantis, whose largest shareholder is Exor, the holding company for Italy’s billionaire Agnelli family, was created in 2021 through a merger between Fiat Chrysler and France’s PSA, owner of Peugeot.
The group’s outspoken chief joined PSA in 2014 and was instrumental in forming the alliance. Stellantis said in the statement that the search for a successor to Tavares, led by chair John Elkann, was “already under way” and would be completed at the end of next year.
Tavares has described the group’s declining profits this year as a “bump in the road” and vowed to “fix” them. He blamed the issues on bad marketing strategies and the turnover between older models and those launching this year. Known for ruthless cost-cutting, Tavares said he saw “absolutely no taboo” in potentially cutting some brands if their performance prompted it.
The sweeping management changes, analysts say, will be seen as a sign the CEO is not planning to step down before the end of his term and is seeking to regain control of the group following a number of setbacks.
People familiar with his views also said Tavares had not initially been keen to step down in 2026, and had hoped to renew his mandate. But he is now keen to complete his term, giving him just over a year to fix the pricing and marketing strategy in the US.
“He’s been brutal in the way he’s cut costs, and he has an authoritative streak that kills off management teams around him, too, so that needs working on,” one person in Paris who has worked with him said.
Another person close to Stellantis said the company’s current woes ultimately stem back to decisions made by Tavares. “When you talk about the management, there is only one and that’s Carlos Tavares,” he said.