“We no longer make cars, we make money. » Calm and level-headed, Benoît Vernier, CFDT central union representative at Stellantis, is not in the habit of forcing the point. But he looks at his business with concern. With the decline in sales of electric cars, a battery-powered 3008 whose production is not getting off to a flying start, and stocks piling up in the United States, the pressure on results is maximum.
To meet the objectives announced to the financial markets, Carlos Tavares is slashing costs and workforce. A method to which employees resigned themselves when it was necessary to save PSA in 2014, then succeed in the merger with Fiat Chrysler in 2021, but which is becoming more and more difficult to accept: “we don’t know where Carlos Tavares will stop, particularly on research and development” asks Mr. Vernier. In Brazil or India, an engineer costs 25 to 30% less than in Europe or the United States. Stellantis wants to take advantage of it. What will remain in France in the long term? On the other side of the Alps, Italian unions are asking themselves the same questions.
But they are no longer the only ones. And the Tavares method is starting to raise doubts, beyond its usual detractors such as employee representatives. In a note published on May 21, Philippe Houchois, financial analyst at Jefferies, warns: “We sense signs of fatigue in the Stellantis teams, due to departures and concerns about the manufacturer’s ability to make up for lost market share or to further adjust to the drop in volumes. »
Questioned by the customs officer
Since the merger, the market share in the United States has fallen from 12.6% to 8.5% and that of Stellantis in Europe from 21.6% to 16.5%. Dizzying, even if the brands sell their models more expensively, with higher margins. The analyst also notes that Carlos Tavares’ relations with “the industrial ecosystem” – its suppliers but also its distributors – are very tense. He therefore questions: Stellantis’ strategy “did she go too far?” ». The group’s operating margin, which had soared to the level of that of Mercedes in 2023, fell at the start of this year. He calls out to the boss: “Did Carlos Tavares fall asleep behind the wheel? »
To answer these questions, Stellantis brought together, for a “capital market day”, analysts and investors in Auburn Hills (Michigan), its American headquarters, on June 13. Upon arrival at the Detroit airport, one of the participants from Europe was questioned by the customs officer: “Ah, you are coming to Stellantis. Are you going to talk about the latest departure plan? » The elimination of 400 engineering positions announced in March made a lasting impression. Between 2021 and 2023, Stellantis’ workforce fell by 12% in Europe and 13% in the United States. In France, a collective termination agreement aims to remove 1,300 additional people by August 2025. Dozens of IT site employees are transferred to a service provider, Kyndryl (formerly IBM). The automobile market, it is true, has never regained, outside of China, the sales volumes it had before the Covid-19 pandemic.
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