Carlos Tavares has decided to step down as CEO of Stellantis with immediate effect, moving up his departure which was initially planned for 2026. His separation from the company will involve a multi-million dollar agreement. According to Corriere della Sera, the Portuguese executive has received an annual salary of about 40 million euros in recent years, despite disagreements with the company’s Board of Directors. In any case, the early departure should mean a bonus of close to 100 million euros ($104 million) for him. It’s unclear whether the manager has also negotiated an option for shares in Maserati, the luxury brand of the Stellantis group.
100 million euro severance package for Carlos Tavares following his resignation as CEO of Stellantis
There are rumors suggesting a possible exit of Maserati from the Stellantis group, with some speculating that the brand could be acquired by another group, although there are no official confirmations. Some suggest Ferrari could be a potential buyer, but there is currently no concrete information regarding this hypothesis.
Carlos Tavares is thus leaving Stellantis with a multi-million agreement, despite his management not having yielded the hoped-for results in terms of sales. In fact, in October, sales dropped dramatically, with a decline of nearly 17 percent and a market share falling to 14.4 percent. Furthermore, during his tenure, a significant portion of Italian production was moved abroad, resulting in extraordinary plant closures, numerous periods of temporary layoffs, and much uncertainty about the future.
A prime example is the Mirafiori plant, which will remain closed for the entire month of December due to low sales of the Fiat 500e, which is now barely competitive compared to rivals. The same applies to the United States, where since 2023 the UAW union has been fighting for the reopening of the Belvidere plant. The situation leaves room for concerns about the group’s future, with hopes that the sector can recover quickly, facing the challenges of the market and the ongoing transformations in the industrial landscape.