Carlos Antunes Tavares Dias (born 14 August 1958) is a Portuguese businessman. He is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Stellantis, the world's fourth largest automaker by sales,[1] formed by the merger of the PSA Group and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. He was formerly the chief operating officer at Renault.[2]
Carlos Tavares | |
|---|---|
 Tavares in 2018 | |
| Born | 14 August 1958 Lisbon, Portugal |
| Education | Lycée français Charles-Lepierre École Centrale Paris |
| Occupation | CEO of Stellantis |
| Children | 3 |
Early life
Family
Carlos Tavares was born in 1958 in Lisbon, his father was an accountant working for a French insurer and his mother was a French teacher.[3] His passion for cars came at the age of 14 when he discovered motor racing, during an open day at the Estoril circuit, near Lisbon.[4]
Education
After studying at the Lycée français Charles-Lepierre in Lisbon, he left his native country for France at the age of 17 to follow a preparatory course in maths at the Lycée Pierre-de-Fermat in Toulouse. He then graduated as an engineer from the École Centrale Paris in 1981.[5]
Career
Renault
Carlos Tavares held different positions within the Renault Group.[6] Tavares started his career at Renault, at the age of 23, as a test-driving engineer in 1981.[4][7][8] He was director of the Renault Mégane II project.[4][9]
Between 2004 and 2011, he worked for Nissan, Renault's partner in the Renault–Nissan Alliance (now Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance), first as programme director and then as vice-president, product strategy and product planning.[10][11][4] In 2005 Tavares was appointed executive vice-president, joining the board of directors.[11] By 2009, he oversaw Nissan's presence in North and South America.[4]
By 2011, he moved back to Renault to become chief operating officer, the number two executive under Carlos Ghosn, the chairman and chief executive officer of Renault and Nissan.[12] Tavares had much in common with Ghosn, as both were "raised in Portuguese-speaking environments. Both went on to graduate from French Grandes Ecoles and - perhaps less surprisingly - both like fast cars." However, on August 15, 2013, Tavares said publicly that he wanted to become CEO at an automaker. It was said that Tavares was ambitious and sought more responsibilities at Renault, however, Ghosn was only four years older and had no plans to step aside soon. Reportedly, Ghosn demanded that Tavares apologize to staff for the gaffe and Tavares refused. Instead he resigned from Renault on August 29, 2013.[13]
PSA Group
Tavares became CEO and chairman of the managing board of Groupe PSA in 2014, replacing Philippe Varin.[12] During his tenure, he spearheaded cost-cutting measures and increased the company's market share in China, which returned Groupe PSA back to profitability after several years of losses.[2][14] In 2014, under his leadership, DS Automobiles was established as a stand-alone brand.[15]
As CEO, he gathered praise for the PSA take over of Opel and return to profitability of Opel, and for PSA's record sales and profits. However, PSA sales in China slipped again.[16] Furthermore, he instigated the merger of PSA with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.[17]
Stellantis
In January 2021, PSA Group merged with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to form Stellantis. Tavares became its first CEO.[6] At Stellantis' first press conference, Tavares said he planned to save 5 billion euros a year in terms of investment, sharing of engines and platforms, and development.[18] He also announced that he wanted to relaunch the most fragile brands, which could benefit from new investments.[19]
During the 2022 French presidential election, incumbent President Emmanuel Macron and opposing candidate Marine Le Pen both called Tavares' 2021 compensation package – around Euro 19 million ($20.5 million), plus a stock package worth some additional Euro 32 million and long-term compensation of about Euro 25 million – "shocking".[20]
As the CEO, Tavares has raised concerns of an "invasion" from Chinese EV companies that, along with the American carmaker Tesla, are offering more affordable models compared to their European competitors. From 2021 to 2022, the European market share of Chinese EV manufacturers doubled to almost 9%.[21]
Other activities
Personal life
Tavares is married and father of three children.[27] He is also known to be close to the former Prime Minister of Portugal José Sócrates.[28]
Racing driver
Passionate about cars, he already volunteered at the age of 14 to be a track marshal on the Estoril circuit.[29] He has been an amateur racing driver since the age of twenty-two.[4]
In 1983, he started as a driver in rallies and endurance races with his friends Bruno Cébile, as co-driver, and Arnaud Montagné, as technical assistant. He notably participated in the Monte-Carlo Rally and he has his own team Clementeam Racing, by analogy with his daughter's first name.[2]
In 2014, together with Jean-Louis Dauger, Denis Gibaud and Jérôme Maudet, Carlos Tavares won the A2 class of the Barcelona 24 Hours with a Peugeot RCZ Cup operated by Milan Competition.[30]
He also collects classic cars and owns a Peugeot 504 V6 Coupé from 1979, an Alpine A110 from 1976 and a Porsche 912 from 1966.[2]
He is a member of the jury at the Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille 2017 and 2019, an automobile elegance competition.[31][32]
Carlos Tavares at the Spa Classic in 2019
Carlos Tavares at the Chantilly Arts & Elegance in 2017
Awards
In 2019, Tavares won the 'Manager of the Year' award at the 15th edition of BFM Awards.[33] Later, in 2020, he was given the award of 'World Car Person of the year'.[34][35] In 2022, Tavares was chosen as the 'Eurostar' for Group CEO by Automotive News Europe.[36]