Education
Carlos Tavares studied at Pierre-de-Fermat school in Toulouse. In 1981, he graduated from École Centrale Paris.
Career
Carlos Tavares was born to a family of a French teacher. He studied at French school in Lisbon, and then moved to Toulouse and Paris. In 1981, the 23-years old graduate began his career at the French car manufacturing company Renault as an engineer of Aubevoye technical center.
During his time at Renault, Tavares participated in technical development of the R19 and Clio 2, and led industrial design process for the Mégane 2 line. In 2005, after the merger of Renault and Nissan, Tavares left Renault and joined Nissan as a Head of Americas. Six years later, Tavares returned to France and was appointed as a CEO of Renault, or a «second in command» to Carlos Ghosn. However, Tavares had enough ambitions to be the company’s number one. And in the end, these ambitions cost him his job. “At some point, you have the energy and ambition to become No 1”- he said in August 2013. On August 29, at the age of 55, after having served 32 years with Renault-Nissan, he announced his departure from the company. Meanwhile, Philippe Varin, CEO of PSA, was looking for a successor. He set his sights on Carlos Tavares. His profile was indeed an ideal match: passionate and acknowledged automotive industry expert with long-lasting experience on international market– Carlos Tavares complied with all the requirements of Dongfeng, the Chinese shareholder company of PSA Group. On April 1, 2014, Carlos Tavares accepted the offer and became a CEO of the PSA Group.
Anecdotes
Since childhood, Carlos Tavares is a motor racing enthusiast. At the age of 14, while living in Portugal, he volunteered to be a marshal of the Estoril circuit. He took part in motor racing during 25 years. Today he is an owner of Clementeam Racing, named by his daughter.
