Philippe Varin swept into PSA in 2009 to prepare to prepare the French OEM for the current European economic malaise, and now his tenure is up. In a move that is surely printing as much ink in the gossip pages in Paris as the economic journals, PSA has signed former Renault COO Carlos Tavares to take over. This is just not done in Paris where niceties may be superficial, but are strong. Well it’s been done now. It may not be GM or Ford as Tavares had suggested in an August Automotive News interview, but leading a revival of near dead PSA presents a tantalizing and potentially highly rewarding challenge to the international auto veteran.
While Tavares may lack some of the product flair of his Nissan predecessor Patrick
Pelata, he corralled a Nissan organization that was lacking any top-level direction below CEO Carlos Ghosn. At Nissan, he cemented the importance of U.S, product and sales discipline, and balanced Ghosn’s quest for market share Continue reading
Gerry Spahn 