Кой е достатъчно смел да оглави ръководството на Stellantis? – haroonabadvital.com

John Elkann (left) and Carlos Tavares (right). Image: Bloomberg LP

Carlos Tavares has long defined the historical challenges facing the automotive industry as a Darwinian struggle that can only be overcome through aggressive cost cutting and constant renewal of the production line. On Sunday, Stellantis NV’s board concluded that the CEO’s heavy-handed approach had become more of a hindrance than a help to the automaker’s long-term prospects. Chairman John Elkann will now assume his duties on an interim basis while the group searches for a successor Tavares“, writes Bloomberg.

But although Tavares made some mistakes and became his own worst enemy, the role of head of the car manufacturer was very difficult. Finding an alternative to guide the parent company of Jeep and Peugeot, as well as dozens of other brands, through technological disruption, regulatory chaos and the rise of Chinese competition, will not be easy.

Tavares, 66, had an illustrious career, culminating in the successful turnaround of Peugeot and Opel and then overseeing their merger with Fiat Chrysler in 2021. Until his retirement, he ably filled the role of industry guru left vacant by the death of Sergio Marchionne in 2018.

Stellantis’ accelerated post-merger turnaround was astonishing, with Tavares receiving total compensation of $36.5 million. Euro earlier this year after record financial results. It is fitting that Tavares bears responsibility for the collapse of the company’s profitability in North America and the serious deterioration in relations with major shareholders.

As chairman of the Agnelli family’s holding company Exor NV, Stellantis’ largest shareholder, Elkann perhaps should have acted earlier to restore harmony within the group before a number of management looked for jobs elsewhere. CFO Natalie Knight was made a scapegoat in October when she warned of a discrepancy between the company’s forecasts and its actual 2024 financial performance.

Tavares might still be doing its job if Stellantis had not faltered in North America by raising prices too much and offering too many pickups and SUVs, and then not being able to respond quickly enough when demand subsided.

Although the pressures on the auto industry require tough decisions to be made — as Volkswagen belatedly acknowledged when it announced plans to close its plants in Germany — fighting unions, dealers, suppliers and governments is no way to do business.

Tavares would not be the last CEO to fail in this challenge. Manufacturers have to meet tough emissions targets, but many Western drivers are unwilling to buy battery-powered cars. At the same time, the main determinant of success in the coming years will be proficiency in software, not hardware. The risks of errors and misallocation of capital are high. Add to this the trade wars and the rise of highly competitive Chinese competitors such as BYD. Add to that the mix, and you can probably see why anyone would want to run a Western automaker, never mind the possibility of a lucrative paycheck like what Tavares was getting.

It’s probably no coincidence that some of the longest-serving auto chiefs in the auto industry are electric vehicle visionaries like Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla, so we applaud Mary Barra for enduring more than a decade at the helm of General Motors.

Elkann chose an outsider when another of Exor’s prized assets, Ferrari NV, needed a new boss in 2021. – Benedetto Vigna’s background is in semiconductors, not luxury or sports cars. Still, running Ferrari, which sells about 14,000 cars a year and manufactures them entirely in Italy, is a fairytale compared to Stellantis, which produces more than 400 times as many cars.

Having overseen the creation of this globe-spanning juggernaut, Elkan must now find someone to tame it.