Group CEO
Carlos Tavares
CEO, Stellantis
TITLE: CEO
COMPANY: Stellantis
BASED: Amsterdam
AGE: 64
NATIONALITY: Portuguese
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Carlos Tavares, who holds an engineering degree from Ecole Centrale de Paris, began his career at Renault Group in 1981. He held various positions at Renault until 2004, when he joined alliance partner Nissan. In 2009, Tavares was named president of Nissan North America. He was then appointed chief operating officer at Renault, a post he held until 2013. The next year, he became CEO of PSA Group and chairman of the automaker’s management board. From January 2021, Tavares has been CEO and executive director at Stellantis, the company that was formed in the merger of PSA and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.
REASON FOR WINNING
Tavares could hardly have picked a more difficult time to lead a new automotive group made up of 14 diverse brands across two continents. The first 18 months of Stellantis' existence have been challenged by the coronavirus pandemic, the semiconductor shortage, and now the conflict in Ukraine and inflationary conditions around the world. In March, Tavares set the tone for Stellantis' future with the Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan, which lays out a vision of the automaker as a globally integrated, sustainable and tech-focused mobility provider -- while generating exceptional value for shareholders.
Thus far, Tavares has delivered on those promises. Stellantis has laid out its road maps for electrification and software development, and announced key partnerships with major tech players. On the financial side, Stellantis has achieved margins that outpaced the industry, even as Tavares and his team worked to integrate production and R&D facilities around the world, and finance the energy transition and future technologies such as autonomous vehicles. Stellantis' first half results: An adjusted operating margin of 14.1 percent, with a record 18.1 percent in North America and 10.4 percent in Europe.