(New York) The car manufacturer Stellantis announced overnight from Thursday to Friday the retirement in early 2026 of its boss Carlos Tavares, as well as changes with immediate effect to several managers of the group.
The group has notably appointed Doug Ostermann, until now director of operations in China, to the position of financial director where he will replace Natalie Knight. The latter, specifies Stellantis in a press release, will leave the group.
“In order to simplify and improve the performance of its organization in a turbulent global environment”, the Franco-Italian-American group has decided to make “targeted organizational changes which come into effect immediately within its management team”, specifies the press release.
It is, he continues, “about refocusing the company on its main operational priorities and tackling with determination the global challenges facing the automotive sector”.
The Portuguese boss indicated in October, during a visit to the historic Peugeot factory in Sochaux (eastern France), that he could retire in January 2026.
“In 2026, the person answering you will be 68 years old, which is a reasonable age to retire. “That’s the option,” he told reporters.
The group indicated in its press release that the process of identifying his successor at the end of his mandate, in January 2026, was now formally launched.
It has been entrusted to a special committee of the board of directors chaired by John Elkann, which is expected to complete its work in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Stellantis was formed from the merger in 2021 of Peugeot-Citroën and Fiat-Chrysler.
In electronic trading after the markets closed, Stellantis shares rose 0.36% on the New York Stock Exchange.