“Thirty-five years in the automobile and I had never seen that. » A few hours after the publication of the results of Stellantis, Wednesday, February 23, this seasoned trade unionist still cannot believe it. The manufacturer, born in early 2021 from the merger between PSA and Fiat Chrysler, is starting its existence in style: a turnover of 152 billion euros – up 14% compared to 2020 –, a profit of 13 billion, an operating margin of 11.8% of turnover and 6 billion in positive cash flow, while specialists predicted a much lower performance for each of these key figures.
This small managerial and financial miracle bears the signature of the managing director of the new entity, Carlos Tavares. The man, who came from the Renault group ten years ago, first saved Peugeot Citroën from bankruptcy, then took over Opel in 2017 to make it a profitable company in one year, while it was losing money for two decades. The cost-hunting specialist has therefore struck hard again. Synergies generated 3.2 billion in net cash in the first year, with a large advance on the group’s roadmap with 14 brands and 6 million cars sold in 2021.
What is this Tavares method that works wonders? It combines a maximum search for competitiveness, with in particular a drop in the breakeven point, this level of vehicle production below which money is lost, and a high level of vehicle selling prices. “Tavares has set to music the managerial equation that has been going on since the 1980s and which is based on a double doctrine. First, small B-segment cars are not made in high-cost countries like France. Secondly, the factories must be put in competition with each other”, explains Bernard Jullien, automotive economist at the University of Bordeaux.
Internal competition
The Stellantis boss mainly applies what he learned at the Renault-Nissan of the 1990s and 2000s. It is also not surprising that the industrial directors of Mr. Tavares come from Renault: first Yann Vincent and , since 2020, Arnaud Deboeuf. The consequence is a significant drop in the workforce in high-cost countries, without plant closures and with the agreement of some of the unions. In France, according to a count by the CFDT, we have gone from 59,000 industrial employees in 2013 to just over 40,000 today. Since 1er February, a new plan provides for 2,600 voluntary departures. Across the Rhine, Opel has seen a third of its German workforce disappear in four years.
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