Automobile. Strasbourg resident Maxime Picat leaves Stellantis: to bounce back at Renault?

Time will tell if this departure heralds his imminent arrival at the helm of Renault. Revealed this Monday, Maxime Picat 's absence from the Stellantis management team, led by the new boss, Antonio Filosa, comes as a surprise. The Alsatian is leaving the automotive group where he has spent his entire career since joining PSA Mulhouse in 1998 .

Born in Schiltigheim and a graduate of the École des Mines de Paris, Maxime Picat was initially responsible for the Citroën C4 industrialization project before being appointed manufacturing manager at the Sochaux assembly plant in 2002. In 2007, he moved to China, first as director of the Wuhan production site before becoming deputy general manager and then general manager of DPCA, the joint venture between PSA and Dongfeng. Under his leadership, PSA sales more than doubled in China.

In 2012, Maxime Picat was appointed Managing Director of the Peugeot brand. He held this position for four years before taking charge of the wider European region for the entire PSA group. It was at this time that he joined the Executive Board, where he served continuously until this Monday. Until now, he was responsible for the Stellantis group's global logistics organization.

Highly regarded by his teams, Maxime Picat was close to Carlos Tavares , to the point of appearing as a possible successor the day after the Franco-Portuguese's dismissal. The Alsatian was also one of the favorites to take the helm of the world's fourth largest manufacturer. John Elkann's choice ultimately fell on Antonio Filosa . Since the announcement of Luca de Meo's surprise resignation from Renault's general management on June 15, Maxime Picat's name has been regularly mentioned as a candidate to take the wheel of the diamond-shaped group. At Stellantis, where he is already missed, no one doubts that he has the skills to lead the French automotive group.