Carlos Tavares

Carlos Tavares is a Portuguese automotive executive who served as CEO of PSA Group from 2014 to 2021, engineering the company's turnaround from near-bankruptcy to record profitability. He previously spent 23 years at Renault and Nissan, including roles as COO of Renault and head of product planning. Tavares's defining decision was the 2017 acquisition of Opel and Vauxhall from General Motors for $2.4 billion, which transformed PSA from a French-centric automaker into a pan-European powerhouse. His management philosophy—aggressive cost-cutting, platform consolidation, and performance culture—delivered $7.7 billion in Stellantis merger synergies but also underinvested in product pipelines, contributing to the FY2024 collapse.

Carlos Tavares was born in 1958 in Portugal and studied engineering at the École Centrale Paris. He began his career at Renault in 1981, rising through the ranks to become COO in 2011. In 2014, he left Renault to become CEO of PSA Group, which was then losing $763 million annually. Tavares implemented a ruthless cost-cutting program, closing the Aulnay-sous-Bois plant near Paris and cutting 11,000 jobs. He acquired Opel and Vauxhall from GM in 2017, integrating them into PSA's platform strategy and returning them to profitability within 18 months. In 2019, Tavares negotiated the merger with FCA, creating Stellantis. He became CEO of the merged company in January 2021. Under his leadership, Stellantis achieved record profits in FY2022 and FY2023, with adjusted operating income margins of 11.8% and 12.8% respectively. However, his aggressive cost-cutting and underinvestment in product development created the conditions for the FY2024 collapse. On December 1, 2024, Tavares resigned as CEO after the board concluded that 'different views had emerged' on strategic direction. His resignation came two years before his contract was set to expire.