TURIN – Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares will have 38 top executives reporting directly to him at the new automotive group – more than twice as many than at PSA Group, and considerably more than the last two CEOs at Fiat Chrysler.
The organization structure released this week gives Tavares direct control over all functions, regions and brands at Stellantis, and he will also sit on or chair nine operating committees.
That number of direct reports is one of the highest in the automotive industry. When Sergio Marchionne merged Chrysler into Fiat to create FCA, he had a total of 28 direct reports. Marchionne’s successor at the helm of FCA, Mike Manley, had 22 functions reporting directly to him. At PSA, Tavares had 18 direct reports.
A Stellantis spokesman said that the nine governance committees were selected in lieu of a traditional executive committee in an effort to be more focused and time effective.
The spokesman said that the committees would be highly focused, with meetings involving content that is “100 percent” relevant to all members. A conventional executive committee meeting might include items not relevant to some members.
The company has not yet made a decision about forming regional boards of directors, a spokeswoman said.
“With those nine major committees, we can make all the relevant decisions of a company like ours in a professional way, in a focused way, in a fast way that leads to a rigorous and fully aligned execution in the company,” Tavares said Tuesday.
He said that the committee structure would encourage creativity.
“We will continue to look for operational excellence, but we will also make sure that inside of those committees, we have open discussion on strategic matters to completely open the door to many disruptive innovations,” Tavares said.
He said he expects that digital tools put in place and refined during the pandemic would allow him and Stellantis managers to guide the company from anywhere in its far-flung empire. The group will sell cars in more than 130 countries and have industrial operations in more than 30; Stellantis’ 400,000 workers are from more than 150 nations, Tavares said.
Stellantis will be incorporated in Amsterdam, as a Dutch-chartered company, but it will not have a centralized headquarters. Important centers will be in Velizy, France, outside of Paris, where PSA was based; Turin, the home of FCA; and Auburn Hills, Mich., where Chrysler was based. Other key countries are Brazil, China and Germany.
The new group governance structure includes the 38 top executive positions that report directly to Tavares, plus six deputies, for a total of 44 executives.
The only position not yet assigned is on the functions level, chief technical officer, a critical role. FCA’s CTO, Harald Wester, becomes head of engineering at Stellantis. PSA’s CTO, Nicholas Morel, now serves as one of two deputies to Wester.
A Stellantis spokesman said that given the stakes – as vehicles become more and more technology dependent — the company will take some time to consider the best way to fill that post.
Philip Nussel of Automotive News contribued to this report.