\n
![](\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/GettyImages-2156418793-e1718361185723.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/p>\n [ad_1]
\n<\/p>\n
The boss of major European carmaker Stellantis is fighting fires whether he looks east or west, but he now at least appears ready to accept when he might have made a mistake.<\/p>\n
Carlos Tavares says his arrogance is to blame for failing to address three converging issues the automaker ran into in its U.S. market.<\/p>\n
The group behind Fiat, Chrysler, and Jeep has faced declining sales and stalled inventory in the U.S., which has caused its market share to shrink.<\/p>\n
Tavares said Stellantis was too slow to sell down inventory, ran into manufacturing issues, and that it lacked \u201csophistication in the way to go to market.\u201d There was an arrogance in failing to recognize those combined factors fast enough, Tavares said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I am saying we were arrogant, I\u2019m talking about myself, nobody else. I\u2019m talking about the fact that I should have acted immediately, recognizing that the convergence of those three problems was there, and we had to set up a task force to address them,\u201d Tavares said at Stellantis\u2019 investor day.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you have a marketing strategy that is suboptimal, at the moment when your inventory grows and your plants start having problems, you think that you can fix each of the issues in isolation, but if the three things happen at the same time, it is more difficult,\u2019\u2019 he added.<\/p>\n
Stellantis\u2019 sales in the U.S. declined 14% in the first quarter of the year, amid a wider fall in global revenues.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The carmaker saw inventories for Jeep and Ram brands jump at the start of the year, Cox Automotive reported<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tavares said the group\u2019s manufacturing issues in the U.S. occurred at two unnamed plants. However, he said it wouldn\u2019t take \u201crocket science\u201d to fix them: \u201cIt is something we have done tons of times, everywhere in the world.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n The group remains profitable and has undertaken a rigorous cost-cutting regime that has caused its headcount to fall by almost 50,000 since 2019.<\/p>\n While Tavares works to renew Stellantis\u2019s operations in the U.S., he also took the time to highlight his opposition to tariffs, after the European Union slapped Chinese carmakers with import levies of up to 38.1%<\/a>.<\/p>\n While European automakers are threatened by cheap Chinese EVs, they have reason to be wary of tariffs. Retaliation from Beijing would likely impede automakers\u2019 ability to sell their cars in the Chinese market, while also increasing the price of crucial inputs for their own EVs.\u00a0<\/p>\n Carmakers have also begun forming strategic partnerships with Chinese manufacturers to take advantage of synergies in the market. Stellantis bought a 21% stake<\/a> in Chinese brand Leapmotor earlier this year to help develop an affordable EV.<\/p>\n Tavares has previously lamented the idea of tariffs as a race to the bottom. He doubled down on that sentiment at Stellantis\u2019 investor day, saying he wouldn\u2019t rely on tariffs to stay competitive.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe are going to fight to be as competitive as we should be in the performance of the products, in the range, in the affordability. We\u2019re going to compete because we are a global company.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\nEurope tariff battle<\/h2>\n