Stellantis CEO to visit US with plan to boost lagging profit: Report

Stellantis chief Carlos Tavares is slated to visit Detroit this week, in a bid to work on a new strategy to address the company's struggling North American operations, and assuage investor and employee concerns, Reuters reported citing a source in the know. 

The strategy is expected to be formed by the end of this week, the person in the know told Reuters on condition of anonymity. 

Whereas Tavares usually visits North American operations every four to six weeks, as per two sources, one of them told the newswire that this specific visit was intended to send a clear signal. 

"He wanted to make clear that he was handling it personally," the source told Reuters, adding that North American operations were essentially funding the rest of the group. 

Tavares has stated that the company's North American business has faced several issues such as high vehicle inventories, manufacturing problems and lack of finess in how it has handled the market. Stellantis shares have fallen 50% from March highs due to this, Reuters noted. 

A Stellantis representative refrained from offering comments to the newswire. 

On his upcoming visit to the US offices, Tavares will engage with top-line managers before working on a strategy by the end of the week, to address issues, the person in the know informed Reuters.

Tavares took the blame for not acting upon the problems at the company's North American operations with agility. While presenting the first half results, the Stellantis CEO noted that he would spend part of his summer holidays in the US to address the issues, Reuters added. 

"We were arrogant," he said earlier this year at Stellantis' investor day in Michigan. "I'm talking about myself, nobody else." Those results came close to after Tavares got a compensation package on Stellantis' 2023 results of up to 36.5 million euros, a 56% jump from a year earlier, Reuters noted.