Baptiste Morin 11:24 a.m., February 20, 2024

Nearly 19 billion euros in profits! This is the record result revealed by Stellantis for its year 2023. At the head of the group, we find Carlos Tavares, 65 years old. Almost 10 years since this centralist born in Portugal has been running Peugeot and his method is working miracles.

When Carlos Tavares took control of PSA in 2014, the group lost 50 million euros per month. This is where the self-described “performance psychopath” comes in to cut costs.

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“It’s essentially a cost killer method,” summarizes Bernard Jullien, lecturer in economics at the University of Bordeaux and specialist in the automobile industry. “He’s someone who tries to cut corners wherever he can. is possible to plan. Everything is counted. We are down to the euro."

An ascetic lifestyle

The “Tavares method” is sometimes considered too cold and authoritarian. It is true that it led to a significant reduction in staff numbers. In 2014, PSA had 58,000 employees in France. There are just over 40,000 on the way today. The merger with Fiat-Chrysler in 2021 also resulted in social plans. The last one dates from less than a year ago and concerns more than 30,000 Stellantis employees in the United States.

An amateur pilot, the leader is described as an ascetic who gets up early, goes to bed early, does not drink alcohol and eats lunch in fifteen minutes, watch in hand. The menu is no less frugal: salad and mineral water.

A farm next to Lisbon

The only twist: Carlos Tavares spends one week a month teleworking from his farm in Portugal, a three-quarter hour drive from Lisbon, where he grows his own olive oil but also his Port. It was in the surrounding area that he invested in a garage specializing in the restoration of old cars.

His mandate at the head of Stellantis ends in 2 years, in 2026. Officially, the manager does not want to make a decision until next year. But behind the scenes, his entourage does not rule him out: Carlos Tavares and his method could well come back.