MILAN — Stellantis Chief Executive Carlos Tavares resigned abruptly on Sunday, two months after a returns warning at the maker of Jeep, Fiat and Peugeot cars that has lost around 40% of its worth this year.

The business said it would seek to discover a replacement CEO in the first half of 2025. elder Independent Director Henri de Castries said in a statement that the selection for Tavares to leave resulted from different views emerging in recent weeks among major shareholders, the board and Tavares.

His resignation was first reported by Bloomberg information.

Previously regarded as one of the most respected executives in the auto industry, Tavares came under criticism after Stellantis issued a returns warning on its 2024 results.

That included a projection for a money burn of up to 10 billion euros ($10.6 billion), mostly due to leisurely sales and bloating inventories in its North American economy, the throng’s returns powerhouse.

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The returns warning triggered a wide reshuffle of the throng’s top management, including changes of its chief budgetary officer and of its head of North American operations, but initially spared Tavares.

After that, however, Stellantis said Tavares was not seeking a recent CEO term and would retire at the complete of his current mandate, in early 2026.

Stellantis shares have lost around 40% of their worth this year.

“The business’s Board of Directors, under the Chairmanship of John Elkann, accepted Carlos Tavares’ resignation today from his role as Chief Executive Officer with immediate result,” Stellantis said in a statement.

Elkann, the scion of the Agnelli household which founded Fiat and is the top Stellantis shareholder through its property business EXOR, thanked Tavares for his role in the creation of Stellantis, the globe’s fourth largest carmaker by sales.

Other large shareholders include the Peugeot household and the French government, through community property lender BPI France.

Tavares, who loved to describe current challenges in the automotive industry as a “Darwinian period”, has led Stellantis since its creation in early 2021, through the union of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot owner PSA.

His outspoken style has often seen him in dispute with counterparts including U.S. unions, and the Italian government which complained about his decisions to reduce auto production in Italy.

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Stellantis said the procedure to appoint the recent permanent CEO was well under way and would accelerate to conclude within the first half of 2025. In the meantime, a recent Interim Executive Committee, chaired by Elkann, would be established.

The procedure to select a recent CEO was initially set to be completed by the final quarter of next year.