PARIS – Stellantis (NYSE: STLA) CEO Carlos Tavares sounded a defiant note at the Paris car show on Monday, a fortnight after the automaker issued a massive profit warning.
The warning shocked investors used to high margins fuelled by lucrative U.S. pickup truck and Jeep sales and prompted questions about Tavares’ future at the helm of the firm.
Here are some of Tavares’ comments during a series of media events at the show:
ON PROBLEMS IN THE U.S:
“In Q2 2024, the plan that was designed and that had been decided was a plan that we will qualify as innovative and risky. And I hesitated: do I break this delegation of authority, at the risk of being criticized for my authoritarianism and for my decisions taken centrally far from the frontline, or do I let it happen? I hesitated and I let it happen.”
“What I told you is that I think that by Christmas we will have solved the stock problem in the U.S. You can count on that.”
ON MANAGING CHINESE COMPETITION:
“Many Chinese manufacturers have come knocking on my door to buy brands and I can also tell you that I refused because I think it is an intangible asset that has value, with a history on which we can rely to build the future. I consider that European brands, which are generally more than a century old, are part of the company’s assets.”
ON HIS SUCCESSION:
“I took the initiative, after consulting my wife and children, to announce that I have decided that I will not run for a second term, so it is my initiative.”
“As a board member, I will participate in the decision to select my successor, as CEO I will have a responsibility to make a suggestion. I will both make recommendations to the board and take part in the selection.”
“What I want is to leave a Stellantis that is robust, which is profitable on a recurring basis, and which has successfully negotiated this electrification shift, that is to say by emerging among the winners of this moment which is, as you know very well, Darwinian.”
(Source: Reuters)
Kevin Putnam is a financial journalist and editor based in New York. He specializes in editing news and analysis related to U.S. stock market.
