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The boss of automotive making large Stellantis, Carlos Tavares, has give up with quick impact following a boardroom conflict.
His abrupt exit from the corporate – which owns manufacturers together with Vauxhall, Jeep, Fiat, Peugeot and Chrysler – comes two months after Stellantis issued a revenue warning.
Last week, the agency additionally introduced plans to close its Vauxhall van making factory in Luton, placing about 1,100 jobs in danger.
Before his resignation, Mr Tavares was probably the most highly effective individuals within the world motor trade.
He had a fame as a ruthless cost-cutter, at each French group PSA after which, following its merger with Fiat Chrysler in 2021, at Stellantis.
“He was known for being able to turn around companies that were troubled,” Hans Greimel, Asia editor at Automotive News, instructed the BBC.
“Critics would say he was just cost-cutting too much and delaying products and also hurting quality,” he added.
In a statement announcing Tavares’ departure, Henri de Castries, Stellantis’ senior impartial director mentioned: “Stellantis’ success since its creation has been rooted in a perfect alignment between the reference shareholders, the board and the chief executive.
“However, in recent weeks different views have emerged which have resulted in the board and the chief executive coming to today’s decision.”
Tavares’ position had been undermined recently by a dramatic fall in sales and profits at the company.
In September, Stellantis had issued a profit warning after it reported a sharp drop in sales in North America.
David Bailey, professor of enterprise economics at Birmingham Business School, instructed the BBC’s Today programme that whereas there may be “huge turmoil in the car industry generally” Stellantis has acquired “particular problems of declining sales [and] declining profits”.
He said: “What’s really, really driving that, I think, is the situation in North America where they’ve had appalling results, a very dated product line-up, rising inventories and slipping market share as a result of which all the stakeholders involved – suppliers, dealers, workers, investors – are deeply unhappy.
“I think that has penetrated the board and made his position untenable.”
Stellantis’ share price has fallen by 40% since the start of this year, a far worse performance than its rivals.
In September, the company said it had started to look for Mr Tavares’ successor, but he was expected to stay in his role until at least 2026.
However, following Tavares’ departure at the weekend, Stellantis said it now expected to appoint a new chief executive by the middle of next year.
In the meantime it said it will set up a new interim executive committee, led by the firm’s chair John Elkann who is a member of the powerful Agnelli family of Italian industrialists.
Tavares frequently made headlines in the UK by casting doubt over the future of Vauxhall operations, linking it to issues such as Brexit and government plans to force car makers to build more electric cars.
It is not yet clear whether his departure will affect the planned closure of Stellantis’ Luton plant.
Stellantis’s Vauxhall plant in Luton currently builds petrol and diesel vans and had been due to start making its medium-sized Vivaro electric van from 2025, before the decision to close it.
The company is now planning to combine its electric van production at its other UK plant in Ellesmere Port in Cheshire.
Bailey mentioned: “I think everything is up in the air. Whether or not that could be reversed I don’t know. One would hope but I suspect that that has gone sadly.
“…I don’t think there are any guarantees about the future whatsoever of Stellantis’s operations in the UK.”
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