Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares steps down as carmaker continues struggle with slumping sales

NEW YORK — Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares is stepping down after nearly four years in the top spot of the automaker, which owns car brands like Jeep, Citroën and Ram, amid an ongoing struggle with slumping sales. Stellantis noted Sunday that the process of finding a new, permanent CEO is “well under way.” In the meantime, the company says a new interim executive committee, led by chairman John Elkann, will be established. The UAW welcomed Tavares’ resignation with president Shawn Fain calling the move “a major step in the right direction for a company that has been mismanaged and a workforce that has been mistreated for too long.” He noted that thousands of UAW members had been calling for Tavares’ firing for weeks for what Fain called the CEO’s “reckless mismanagement of the company.” “Tavares is leaving behind a mess of painful layoffs and overpriced vehicles sitting on dealership lots,” Fain said in a statement. He added that the union looks forward to sitting down with Stellantis’ new chief executive and “will keep using all means available” to hold the company accountable. In a statement Sunday, Stellantis’ senior independent director Henri de Castries said that Stellantis’ success is “rooted in a perfect alignment” between shareholders, the company’s board and the CEO — but noted “different views” had emerged in recent weeks, resulting in the decision to approve Tavares’ resignation.