Stellantis Changes Management, Structure; Searching For CEO; Stock Dips

(RTTNews) - Stellantis N.V. Monday announced a further shake-up in its management and structure following the ouster of Chief Executive Officer Carlos Tavares in December amid different views about the auto major. The company said the process to appoint a new permanent Chief Executive Officer is well underway, expected within the first half of 2025.

Following the news, shares of Stellantis N.V. were losing around 6 percent in the Paris and Milan trading, and around 5 percent in pre-market activity on the NYSE.

The latest management and organizational shake-up comes after the auto major recently reported weak underlying sales and shipments for the fourth quarter, amid inventory reduction actions, mainly in the U.S.

In a statement, the carmaker said it is taking steps to simplify its organization, as announced in December 2024.

Accordingly, software activities are now integrated into a Product Development & Technology organization, led by Ned Curic. With the change, the process of bringing to market innovative products and services for all the brands in all its operating markets have been streamlined.

Further, Antonio Filosa, who is currently America's Regions COO, will take additional role on the global leadership of Quality, which is core to the Company's promise to customers.

Corporate Affairs and Communications are combined and will be led by Clara Ingen-Housz. Further, the firm created a new Marketing Office, led by Olivier François.

In the additional leadership changes, the company named Bob Broderdorf to lead the Jeep brand; Alain Favey to lead the Peugeot brand; Xavier Peugeot to lead the DS Automobiles brand; as well as Anne Abboud to lead Stellantis Pro One commercial vehicles unit.

According to the firm, these measures allow for the right balance between regional and global responsibilities to enable speed of decision and execution. It further reinforces Stellantis' commitment to lay the ground for renewed growth.

Stellantis Chairman John Elkann said, "Building on the changes made in December, today's announcements will further simplify our organization and increase our local agility and rigor of execution. We look forward to driving growth by providing our customers with an even larger choice of great combustion, hybrid and electric vehicles."

The expected appointment of a new permanent CEO is managed by a Special Committee of the Board of Directors.

As announced in October last year, the osted CEO, Tavares, initially was planning to retire at the conclusion of his contract in early 2026. At that time, a replacement was expected to be announced by the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025.

The owner of Chrysler, Opel, Peugeot brands also had announced then various targeted management changes under the leadership of Tavares, with a view to redoubling the company's focus on its key business priorities and confronting head-on the global challenges facing the industry.

However, Tavares in early December resigned with immediate effect following different views about the company's operations with the Board of Directors.

The news of the CEO'S immediate resignation had hit Stellantis' shares sharply then.

In mid-January, Stellantis said underlying sales for the fourth quarter fell around 5 percent, and consolidated shipments dropped 9 percent year-over-year to estimated 1,395 thousand units.

In North America, shipments declined 28 percent, in contrast to a more modest sales decline of 5 percent. The larger decline in shipments reflected inventory reduction initiatives.

In Enlarged Europe, shipments fell 6 percent.

In Milan, Stellantis shares were trading at 12.17 euros, down 6.1 percent, and the stock was down 6.3% in Paris to trade at 12.14 euros.

In pre-market activity on the NYSE, the shares were at $12.46, down 5.1 percent.