Ousted Stellantis CEO Admits ‘Things Could Have Been Done Differently’

In the United States, former Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares left behind a legacy of conflict and fractured relationships. To us, it’s obvious why Tavares clashed with dealers and company insiders; his campaign against legacy powertrains led to alienated sales forces and fans alike, but it didn’t have to be that way, he said in an interview with Bloomberg.

According to Tavares, his key blunder was his failure to bring U.S. dealerships around to his way of thinking. Without support from front-line employees, selling his new strategy to other stakeholders became an insurmountable obstacle.

“The dealers in the U.S. did not want to support what we were trying to do, which is my responsibility,” he told the outlet. “Many things could have been done differently,” he continued.

The extent of the rift between Tavares and the company’s U.S. operation became clear immediately after his departure. He was barely out the door when Dodge announced it would continue production of the V8 Durango—powered by the Hemi engine that Tavares campaigned to mothball—indefinitely.

Since, we’ve seen credible rumors pointing to a revival of V8s across its U.S. portfolio, thus far, however, nothing has been officially announced, and there have been no outward signs that Ram or Dodge have any Hemi-powered prototypes in the development pipeline. If it’s going to happen, the investment needs to happen where Stellantis can most readily pay for it. Translation? Pay attention to the trucks.

But while enthusiasts may be hanging on to the Hemi as a sign of life from Stellantis, company insiders have bigger problems on their hands. The absence of V8 trucks may seem glaring to us, but Ram’s biggest problem wasn’t a powertrain miscue, but the many-times-delayed introduction of its overhauled pickup lineup.

Even as production ramped up in 2024, Ram struggled to build trucks that worked, forcing dealerships to address quality issues that should have been fixed before delivery. The resulting frustration further alienated employees, dealers and customers.

Tavares began his career with Renault as a test engineer; now the ex-CEO spends his retirement racing cars and working on his farm, he told AN.

Tavares called Filosa a “logical, credible choice” to succeed him in this tumultuous environment, which he expects will result in more consolidation among automakers, especially in Europe—to say nothing of the “chaos” imposed by the trade war.

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