The schedule at the Paris auto show looks very busy for Tavares, who will surely be required to give a number of explanations for the crisis affecting the United States, even after announcing his retirement in 2026. Of particular concern to them about the situation are certainly investors, who have always been accustomed to very high profit margins. At the moment, however, Stellantis shares are down nearly 45 percent since the beginning of this year.
Tavares, from stars to critics
Until a few months ago, Tavares has always been regarded as a man with great futuristic vision. And certainly he still is after his many victories in the automotive field, especially after the merger he created, the Stellantis Group. Now, however, the current CEO finds himself in the midst of endless criticism on every front. Tavares is expected to attend five different events these days, as is Renault CEO Luca de Meo. The same cannot be said for BMW and many other manufacturers. As for Volkswagen, it seems that executives do not even plan to attend the shows.
Under the spotlight now, then, will be Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares himself, who will have to explain, at Auto Paris Show, to everyone how he intends to revive the future of the automotive group before his retirement. He himself who, at the beginning of these events, had spoken of the U.S. problem as a minor operational error, without any consequences. However, months later, the shares are plummeting. This of course is especially given after the latest news of Tavares’ retirement in 2026 and the group’s major internal reorganization.
Tavares vs. dealers and UAW
Dealers have accused CEO Tavares of wrongly implementing both low-end vehicles, which have been eliminated, and high-end vehicles, for which they believe not enough has been invested. Benefiting from this currently seems to be Ford, which, with its Bronco model, is slowly overpowering brands such as Jeep. In this regard, Farrish also spoke out last month, who complained about Stellantis’ obsessive pursuit of short-term profits, quickly degrading well-known American brands such as Jeep, Dodge, Ram and Chrysler. Farrish’s criticism was also joined by Kelleher (president of David Auto Group) who also added that the brands in question need to have a CEO who knows the U.S. market well, since the creation of Stellantis, the number of cars sold per month has dropped from 165 to 89.
On the other hand, pressure also continues from UAW, which is threatening strike action over various delays in Stellantis’ promised investments. According to CoPilot CEO Pat Ryan, Stellantis has also reportedly raised prices by 50 percent, while inflation has only risen by 23 percent. Moreover, to finish, other data that were also provided by CoPilot and also by Reuters, show that the days of supply of Ram 1500 pickup trucks are significantly longer than a competitor such as Chevrolet. In fact, we are talking about 131 and 41 days respectively, a rather remarkable difference. Another example, that of Jeep with Ford, the former need 137 days, while Ford, with the Expedition model 22 less.