Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares abruptly announced his resignation on Sunday after leading the car giant for four years. Its board is already looking for his permanent replacement.

Carlos Tavares is stepping down as Chief Executive Officer of Stellantis, effective immediately, following a sharp decline in the carmaker’s sales. As the Wall Street Journal notes, in July, the company reported that its net profit for the first half of the year had dropped by 48 percent compared to 2023.

Carlos Tavares has resigned as Stellantis CEO after nearly four years, amid plunging electric vehicle sales and rising competition from Chinese car makers. His departure highlights the mounting challenges for legacy carmakers in the EV transition.

Carlos Tavares abruptly resigned on Sunday as CEO of Stellantis , two months after a profit warning, and the carmaker said it would seek to appoint a permanent successor in the first half of next year.

The Peugeot family holding company, a major shareholder in Franco-Italian carmaker Stellantis, on Monday expressed its continued support for the group after the surprise resignation of CEO Carlos Tavares.

Stellantis, the maker of Chrysler, Jeep, Fiat and Peugeot among other brands, announced Sunday that embattled CEO Carlos Tavares has resigned due to differences with the board and in the face of disappointing sales and calls for his ouster.

The global automaker’s sales in North America declined over the past year because of high-cost models that dealers struggled to sell.

Stellantis Chief Executive Carlos Tavares resigned abruptly on Sunday, two months after a profit warning at the maker of Jeep, Fiat and Peugeot cars that has lost around 40% of its value this year. The company said it would seek to find a replacement CEO in the first half of 2025.