Vauxhall has appointed a temporary boss as it announces the departure of managing director James Taylor.

James Taylor departs after 25 years with Vauxhall

Eurig Druce, who was appointed group managing director of Stellantis UK in October 2024, will assume responsibility for Vauxhall while a successor is appointed to Taylor.

Taylor departs after 25 years with the brand. He started his career with Vauxhall in 1997 on its undergraduate scheme and has since held senior commercial roles in sales and fleet, culminating in his appointment as managing director of Vauxhall in 2022.

Druce said: “I’d like to sincerely thank James for more than quarter of a century of loyalty and dedication to Vauxhall. James leaves Vauxhall ready for the UK’s transition to an electric future and on behalf of his many colleagues and friends, I wish him personally all the best for the future.”

James Taylor said: “From the General Motors era to Groupe PSA to now Stellantis, it’s been a remarkable journey done with some remarkable people along the way. I’d like to thank all my colleagues, past and present, for both their amazing contributions to what has been achieved – especially in recent years, transforming Vauxhall through design, technology and marketing into an electric-first brand – and I wish them every success in the future.”

Eurig Druce, group MD of Stellantis UK, will hold responsibility for Vauxhall while a successor is appointed

His departure comes weeks after Stellantis announced a shake-up of its UK management team with a raft of new appointments. These included Nicola Dobson as Peugeot managing director, while Giuseppe Cava was named managing director for Fiat, Fiat Professional and Abarth.

Stellantis has also announced new global heads for its Peugeot, Jeep and DS brands, following the sudden departure of former CEO Carlos Tavares in December 2024.

Alain Favey joins Stellantis as CEO of the Peugeot brand, replacing Linda Jackson who retires after four years in the role and 48 years in the industry. Favey spent the first 20 years of his career with the PSA Group, where he was country managing director for Citroën, for Denmark, Belux, UK, Italy and France. In 2009, he joined Volkswagen AG, where he held several leading international positions with Porsche Holding, Skoda and Bentley. Since June 2023, he has been CEO of Europcar Mobility Group.

Xavier Peugeot is appointed to lead the DS Automobiles brand, succeeding Olivier François who takes on responsibility of the newly created Marketing Office, while retaining responsibility for the Fiat brand.

The changes also see Bob Broderdorf appointed to lead the Jeep brand. Broderdorf, who previously served as senior vice president and head of Jeep brand for North America, has more than 25 years’ experience leading iconic American brands including Ram and Dodge. He succeeds Antonio Filosa, who will continue to oversee the Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram brands in his position as America’s Regions chief operating officer (COO) of Stellantis.

Meanwhile, Anne Abboud is named CEO of the Stellantis Pro One commercial vehicles unit. She brings extensive experience in the commercial sector, having led the PSA Group, and then Stellantis Group, owned network from 2018 to 2023.

Stellantis chairman John Elkann said the latest changes would further simplify the organisation and increase “local agility and rigor of execution”.

“We look forward to driving growth by providing our customers with an even larger choice of great combustion, hybrid and electric vehicles,” he continued.

Stellantis is also still recruiting a new permanent chief executive officer to replace Carlos Tavares and said the process would conclude within the first half of 2025.