Carlos Tavares resigned as CEO of Stellantis on December 1, 2024, roughly a year earlier than the retirement Stellantis had already announced would take effect when his contract expired in early 2026. In a joint statement, the company said “different views have emerged which have resulted in the Board and the CEO coming to today’s decision,” without publicly detailing the specific points of disagreement. Subsequent reporting attributed the resignation to friction between Tavares and Stellantis chairman John Elkann over cost-cutting priorities and product strategy, against a backdrop of deteriorating financial results: Stellantis’ stock had fallen roughly 42% during 2024, and the company’s North American operations were struggling with an oversupply of high-priced inventory sitting on dealer lots, drawing sharp criticism from U.S. dealers and the United Auto Workers union.
The Numbers Behind the Board’s Concern
The scale of Stellantis’ decline under Tavares’ leadership became a central reference point once he departed: the company’s global sales fell 12.3%, from 6.5 million vehicles in 2021 to 5.7 million in 2024, with U.S. sales collapsing roughly 27% to 1.3 million vehicles over the same period. Stellantis dropped from the fourth-largest automaker by U.S. sales to sixth, with its domestic market share falling from 11.6% to 8%. Board concerns, as later reported, centered specifically on whether Tavares’ heavy focus on cost-cutting had come at the expense of vehicle quality and the company’s ability to develop and refresh its model lineup quickly enough to stay competitive.
Antonio Filosa’s $70 Billion Reversal
Antonio Filosa, a 25-year Stellantis veteran with deep experience across the Americas and quality operations, was named permanent CEO in June 2025 and used 2026 as what he publicly called Stellantis’ “year of execution.” On May 21, 2026, Filosa unveiled a $70 billion, five-year turnaround plan built around 60 new vehicles by 2030 spanning combustion, hybrid, and fully electric powertrains — a notably more diversified approach than the aggressive electrification push Tavares had pursued, and one industry reporting has explicitly framed as Filosa unwinding several of Tavares’ prior all-electric product decisions. The plan targets a return of core gas-powered nameplates including new Jeep and Ram trucks and the previously discontinued Hemi V8 engine, $7 billion in annual cost reductions by 2028, positive cash flow by 2027, and a 35% increase in North American sales, from 1.4 million to 1.9 million vehicles, even against a flat overall industry sales environment.
Progress Has Been Slow to Show Up in Results
The turnaround has not yet translated into stock performance: Stellantis shares were down nearly 30% in the roughly year since Filosa took over, and the company’s second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of €773 million came in well below the €914 million analysts had expected, with Filosa telling investors the turnaround would simply take time to show up fully in the numbers. The gap between Filosa’s ambitious five-year plan and the company’s current quarterly results underscores how deep a hole Stellantis was left in — one that predates Filosa’s own tenure and traces back to the sales collapse and strategic direction set during Tavares’ final years running the company.
Where Tavares Stands Now
Since leaving Stellantis, Tavares has taken a lower public profile, serving as co-chair of the Freedom of Mobility Forum’s advisory board, an initiative focused on preserving mobility access in the context of climate policy, alongside an existing board seat at Airbus SE. He has not taken another chief executive role at a major automaker since his December 2024 departure.
What This Means for Philippine Founders
Filosa’s explicit reversal of several of Tavares’ all-electric product bets is a real, recent example of how quickly a major company’s official strategy can change once a founder or long-tenured executive departs — a genuine risk for any Philippine startup that has built its own product roadmap or supply relationships around a single large partner’s currently-stated direction rather than that company’s more durable underlying capabilities. The wide gap between Stellantis’ ambitious five-year plan and its still-weak quarterly results is also a useful reminder for local founders courting investors: announcing a credible turnaround strategy and actually delivering the financial results to match it are two separate achievements, and markets will keep discounting a company, or a startup, until the numbers themselves start to move.
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