Carlos Tavares, who resigned as CEO of Stellantis last week, leaves behind a legacy of polarizing decisions. Among them, sidelining the Hemi V8 engine, despite strong internal and external opposition, remains one of the most controversial.
The Hemi V8 reduced to limited use
Although the Hemi V8 engine is still available as a crate engine and on certain chassis-separated models (such as the Jeep Wrangler and Dodge Durango), it has been dropped from the Stellantis passenger car range. The new Dodge Charger can now only be fitted with a Hurricane inline engine or electric motors. Reinstatement of the V8 would require costly re-engineering, which seems unlikely for the time being.
Management under fire
According to internal sources, Tavares was obsessed with short-term cost-cutting, which led to poor management of the product range and relations with suppliers, unions and dealers.
An anonymous employee claimed that the executive acted like he knew everything and didn't listen to advice. The source added that Tavares blamed American executives for the company's problems without acknowledging his own mistakes.
An uncertain transition for Stellantis
Tavares, whose salary was nearly $40 million last year, has been temporarily replaced by a 10-person committee headed by John Elkann. Meanwhile, Stellantis is looking for a successor capable of turning things around.
Tim Kuniskis, known for popularizing the Hemi and Dodge muscle cars, retired in May, but has been recalled to take up the position of Ram CEO.