Meeting at the Monte-Carlo Rally with Carlos Tavares, the Stellantis rider
Red parka, ski pants, big socks, Carlos Tavares is ready to face the cold, snow and ice at the 2023 Historic Monte-Carlo Rally. race of old cars that were all before 1983. “There are only people here who share my passion . These are the cars of my youth, this is nostalgia”, underlined, lyrically, the general manager of Stellantis we met at the Palais des Expositions in Reims, one of the starting points of the famous rally, before he stepped on the accelerator. .
Here, the big boss of one of the most powerful car manufacturers in the world is gone. He is a runner among others. “I left for a week, for me it corresponds to the week of skiing that people do in the winter,” he said simply, smiling, relaxed. And Stelantis? “I check my messages while stopping, at night at the hotel. But there, I left for 22 hours of non-stop driving from Reims to Monaco, without thinking about the company, I focused on my driving!”
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His 104 ZS2? A mini-car that doesn’t look like much, only 93 horsepower, but very light (less than 800 kilograms), therefore very agile and maneuverable. It is one of the most careful, modest, of the rally, in the middle of a floor where Lancia, Alfa Romeo (all brands of the Stellantis group now), MG, Saab… “I bought it for 10,000 euros. in 2017 (in Leboncoin) and returned to my farm in Portugal”, he underlined. A car among its other jewels more prestigious as a single-seater The Formula 3 Ralt car from over half a century ago with an Alfa Romeo engine and a 1972 Chevron B21 prototype, a successful racing beast during its 23 event run. Carlos Tavares also owns a 504 pick-up bought in Auvergne from a retiree.
12 to 15 weekends per year
The man runs “12 to 15 weekends a year”. Competition, even in the worst conditions, is his medicine, with more than 500 events to his credit in forty years, including more than 150 in rallies. Motorsport is a school of “hope, otherwise we risk death at the next bend”, pleads this test engineer who joined Renault at the age of 23. Hope is “what makes to Stellantis”, he said. This is what “brings driving a career closer to … driving a company”!
Second ingredient required in both cases: “the rigor of execution. In a snowy hairpin, what the conditions of survival are accuracy. As in a company”. Third key component: patience. “When you ride in a single seat, you should not press the accelerator with impunity, you have to wait for the right moment”. In competition as in Stellantis behavior, what is also important, “it is teamwork, trust. I have been racing for thirty years with the same people in the service”. And, he said with a wink, “I’ve been with my wife in rallies for 42 years.”
Finally, “there’s stress management. When I’m racing, I’m stressed about doing bad things”. And, in managing a company, it’s the same, “you have to be better than Volkswagen, than Tesla, that’s stress”. Its engine? “Adrenaline, excitement”. Sport, “I live this as a moment when I can make a difference to my competitors”. Similarly, in a company, “a crisis is an opportunity”. When we ask Carlos Tavares how he would define himself, the savior of PSA in 2014, the creator of Stellantis in January 2021 through the merger of PSA with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles? “I am a competitor, otherwise I will get bored”.
An ascetic way of life
Therefore, this sportsman imposes an ascetic lifestyle on himself, which he also imposes on Stellantis and his teams. “He always has a Tissot watch, the same suit, the same jeans, doesn’t drink and meals take a quarter of an hour, he just eats to eat,” said one of his close colleagues. On the menu: salad and mineral water. Weight is also the enemy of man, of the pilot, of the company. He pushed this philosophy to stay in Reims “in a Kyriad hotel for 66 euros per night with breakfast”, the manager told us with a smile. “The automobile industry has become a waste monster with an abundance of resources. We must eliminate this waste, impose the necessary efficiency”, he insisted. A penny is a penny. Darwin’s challenge, which he often talks about, is that the best wins, between manufacturers as in motorsport.
“My father is an accountant, my mother is a teacher, I come from the middle class. My only difference is motorsport,” explains Carlos Tavares. However, his very good salary became controversial in the spring of 2022. The Stellantis pilot actually benefited from a fixed salary of 2 million euros and a variable salary of 7.5 million in 2021. But also from 32 million euros. euro of securities as part of a Long Term Incentive Plan (Long-term incentive plan) according to Phitrust’s calculations. Also had to add a long-term payment to be paid in cash of 25 million, through the new Changing Incentives. Provided that all the goals set are achieved in the long term. My salary “allows me to invest for my children (three) and my grandchildren (four)”, defends the general manager of Stellantis, which is still due to post earnings on February 22 (recurring operating margin of 14.1% in the first half of 2022).
He is a shareholder in Portugal in a company that restores old cars, Roda Classica, refurbishing Rolls, Jaguars, Lamborghinis… Another recent passion was born to him, with no car debt. He owns a farm in the north of the country, where he spends his holidays and lives more often. It has olive trees and vineyards and makes a port, marketed as Porto Amalho, with about twenty people. “But I haven’t changed anything in my lifestyle,” he said. After fifty minutes of conversation, we find Carlos Tavares lovingly returning to his 104. He is already in another place, ready to focus on the tight cabin of his little Peugeot. This is his ninth historic rally in Monte-Carlo.
