Former CEO Tavares Personally Ended the Hemi V8, Stellantis Insiders Claim

The Portugal-born former CEO allegedly dismissed appeals from other executives to continue V8 production

Carlos Tavares resigned as Stellantis CEO last week, leaving behind a legacy that investors will associate with a decline in profitability and dealers with bloated inventories and uncompetitive MSRPs. However, insiders reveal that Tavares’s legacy also includes personally ending the iconic Hemi V8, despite widespread internal and external opposition.

“Everybody wanted to keep [the Hemi],” a Stellantis executive told CNBC on the condition of anonymity. “But it was ‘you need to be greener.'”

While the Hemi V8 is still available as a crate engine and can be ordered in models like the Jeep Wrangler, Dodge Durango (which is being discontinued soon), and larger trucks, it was phased out from Stellantis’s passenger car lineup in favor of the Hurricane inline-six. The new Dodge Charger was only designed to accommodate the Hurricane and EV powertrains, with no current plans to modify it (at a reasonable cost) to fit the beloved V8.

CNBC’s sources also accuse the former PSA chief of being overly focused on short-term cost savings, which they claim led to mismanagement across the company’s product lineup, plans, suppliers, unions, and dealer relations.

One insider remarked that Tavares acted as though he knew everything and disregarded advice, while another blamed him for blaming U.S. executives for the company’s issues rather than taking responsibility for his own mistakes.

“If you don’t know the market, you don’t know the customers, you can’t make the right decisions,” said an anonymous source.

Tavares earned nearly $40 million in salary, stock, and options last year, though it’s unclear how much Stellantis paid him to leave earlier this month. The company is now being managed by a 10-person committee led by John Elkann, while they decide who should next take the CEO position. Tim Kuniskis, who played a key role in building the Hemi and Dodge into cultural muscle icons, retired in May but has been brought back to lead RAM.

Do you think Stellantis could re-engineer its passenger cars to fit the Hemi, or is it time to move on? And who would you hire as CEO to turn Stellantis’s fortunes around?

Author:

  • Growing up with a father who was a mechanic I had an appreciation for cars and motorcycles from an early age. I shared my first bike with my brother that had little more than a 40cc engine but it opened up a world of excitement for me, I was hooked. As I grew older I progressed onto bigger bikes and...

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