Seeking higher margins, Stellantis CEO Tavares lost some core customers
When 24-year-old Elena Aragon set out to buy a new car, she reviewed a range of no-frills brands in her home town of Cadiz, Spain, including Stellantis' Fiat and Peugeot. Aragon's choice highlights a problem that had afflicted Stellantis under CEO Carlos Tavares, who quit abruptly on Sunday: rising prices at its mass-market marques have driven away inflation-hit customers, according to Reuters' interviews with five car dealers, five consumers, two auto industry executives ahead of his resignation and a review of pricing data by market research firm JATO Dynamics. Tavares, who had led Stellantis since it was forged in January 2021 from the combination of Peugeot-owner PSA and Fiat Chrysler, had flattered investors with rapid post-merger cost cuts and boosted operating profit margins to around 13% last year, nearly twice those of rivals Volkswagen and Renault.