Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares abruptly announced his resignation on Sunday after leading the car giant for four years. Its board is already looking for his permanent replacement.

Until a new CEO is hired, the company will be led by an interim executive committee chaired by John Elkann. Elkann, the great-great-grandson of Fiat founder Giovanni Agnelli, is Stellantis's chairman and the CEO of the automaker's largest shareholder, the Agnelli family investment vehicle Exor NV.

The company said that the process to find a new CEO is already "well under way," as Tavares's contract was set to expire in 2026.

The Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram retailers watched pricey and older cars pile up on their lots this year, and felt Carlos Tavares wasn't listening.

Carlos Tavares is stepping down as Chief Executive Officer of Stellantis, effective immediately, following a sharp decline in the carmaker’s sales. As the Wall Street Journal notes, in July, the company reported that its net profit for the first half of the year had dropped by 48 percent compared to 2023.

Stellantis, the maker of Jeep, Fiat and Puegeot, announced on Sunday that CEO Carlos Tavares has resigned.

Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares has unexpectedly resigned from the automaker amid increasingly “different views” between the executive and the board of directors.

The global automaker’s sales in North America declined over the past year because of high-cost models that dealers struggled to sell.

Tavares, who loved to describe current challenges in the automotive industry as a “Darwinian period”, has led Stellantis since its creation in early 2021, through the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot owner PSA.

Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares has resigned effective immediately. The automaker’s Board of Directors accepted Tavares’ resignation on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024.