Stellantis: talk of 100mn golden handshake for Tavares (3)

(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 2 - There is talk of Carlos Tavares getting a 100-million-euro golden handshake after Stellantis announced on Sunday that he was stepping down as CEO.
    The speculation is based on reports that he has earned about 40 million euros a year over the last few years as chief of the Italian-American-French carmaker, making him the auto industry's best paid manager.
    Tavares, one of the architects of the 2020 merger between Fiat-Chrysler with Peugeot, is a controversial figure in Italy after a series of run-ins with the political world.
    He made waves at a parliamentary hearing in October when he said car production in Italy was too expensive unless the government delivered fresh incentives for the sector.
    He subsequently failed to rule out redundancies at Stellantis's Italian plants.
    "We won't miss Tavares," Luigi Sbarra, the leader of the CISL trade union, told Sky television on Monday.
    "Tavares never believed in union relations. He delocalized. He put the brakes on investment in Italy. He got to the point of challenging the State.
    "We think that his resignation will be a turning point". (ANSA).