Multinational automaker and Jeep-Chrysler-Fiat parent company Stellantis has announced significant changes to its previous remote work policy, coming as the company has also made major changes amongst executives.
Stellantis has shifted its previous 70-percent remote work policy to instead start requiring workers in-office for at least three days a week, as detailed by Human Resources Lead Xavier Chereau during the Paris Auto Show (via Bloomberg). Chereau says the company is actively working to revamp its offices to help welcome employees back, just as the company has aired profit warnings about its struggling brands.
“We need to be pragmatic and we are recalibrating,” Chereau said. “If there’s a difficult project that needs attention, then it’s all week in the office.”
Stellantis’ brand unveil Peugeot E-408 at the 2024 Paris Motor Show
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares was a vocal supporter of remote work during the COVID-19 lockdowns, especially as the company worked to downsize office space and real estate assets in efforts to cut costs. In recent weeks, Tavares has been under fire as Stellantis has had to slash its profit forecast for the year, along with pressure from unions in both Italy and the U.S.
“Given what the situation is today, I feel the need to be with my teams more often, to reassure, to communicate, to help make sense of things,” Chereau added.
Tesla began requiring remote workers to report to the office again in 2022, as detailed in a pair of letters CEO Elon Musk sent to other executives and larger staff. In the same year, General Motors (GM) also requested that employees come back to the office three days a week, though it didn’t begin requiring them to until 2023 following backlash.
Stellantis already started having auto engineers come back to the office more regularly in a shift earlier this year, but the executive says it will now broaden those plans to include R&D workers and several other roles. Chereau also says that re-training workers to prepare for the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) is a major undertaking, with the automaker set to spend 144 million euros (~$157 million) on retraining efforts.
The automaker has also confirmed that it is considering a successor for Tavares, though the CEO will finish his current contract before retiring in 2026. A special committee of the board is currently evaluating potential candidates to succeed Tavares, and it’s expected to complete this process by Q4 next year.
Stellantis officially announced the news in a press release last week, along with the appointing of Antonio Filosa as the North America COO alongside his role as CEO of Jeep. The company also named a handful of other executives stepping into new roles.
Last month, Italy’s largest metalworker’s unions announced plans to stage a strike on October 18 at Stellantis’ Fiat factory in Turin over the company’s declining production output at the factory.
Meanwhile, Stellantis remains in a legal battle with the United Automotive Workers (UAW) union in the U.S. After the UAW threatened to strike against the automaker over its failure to reopen a factory in Belvidere, Illinois, Stellantis has followed up by filing several lawsuits against the union alleging that such a strike would be illegal.
In the filings, Stellantis also claimed that the UAW was trying to re-boot a previously retired jobs bank program for striking workers to continue collecting wages, though the union has denied the allegation.
What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.
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Tesla gets price target increase on Wall Street, but it’s a head-scratcher
Delaney’s price target on Tesla shares went up to $395 from $300. Currently, Tesla is trading between $420 and $430, making the new price target from Goldman Sachs a bit of a head-scratcher.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) received a price target increase from a Wall Street analyst today, who noted in his report that the company’s shares could rise or fall based on its execution in robotics and autonomy.
However, the price target boost still fell below Tesla’s current trading levels.
Mark Delaney of Goldman Sachs said in a note to investors today that Tesla has a significant opportunity to solidify itself as one of the stable and safe plays in the market if it can execute on its two key projects: humanoid robots and autonomy.
In the note, Delaney said:
“If Tesla can have [an] outsized share in areas such as humanoid robotics and autonomy, then there could be upside to our price target.”
Delaney’s price target on Tesla shares went up to $395 from $300. Currently, Tesla is trading between $420 and $430, making the new price target from Goldman Sachs a bit of a head-scratcher.
He went on to say that Tesla could also confront outside factors that would limit the stock’s ability to see growth, including competition and potentially its own lack of execution:
“…although if competition limits profits (as is happening with the ADAS market in China) or Tesla does not execute well, then there could be downside.”
The note is an interesting one because it seems to point out the blatantly obvious: if Tesla performs well, the stock will rise. If it doesn’t, the stock price will decline.
We discussed yesterday in an article that Tesla is one of the few stocks out there that does not seem to be influenced by financials or anything super concrete. Instead, it is more influenced by the narrative currently surrounding the company, rather than the technicals.
Tesla called ‘biggest meme stock we’ve ever seen’ by Yale associate dean
Tesla’s prowess in robotics and autonomy is strong. In robotics, it has a very good sentiment following its Optimus project, and it has shown steady improvement with subsequent versions of the robot with each release.
On the autonomy front, Tesla is expanding its Robotaxi platform in Austin every few weeks, and also has a sizeable geofence in the Bay Area. Its Full Self-Driving suite is among the most robust in the world and is incredibly useful and accurate.
The company can gain significant value if it continues to refine the platform and eventually rolls out a driverless or unsupervised version of the Full Self-Driving suite.
Elon Musk
Tesla addresses door handle complaints with simple engineering fix
“We’ll have a really good solution for that. I’m not worried about it.”
Tesla is going to adjust one heavily scrutinized part of its vehicles after recent government agencies have launched probes into an issue stemming from complaints from owners.
Over the past few days, we have reported on the issues with Tesla’s door handle systems from both the Chinese and American governments.
In China, it dealt with the Model S, while the United States’ National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported nine complaints from owners experiencing issues with 2021 Model Ys, as some said they had trouble entering their car after the 12V battery was low on power.
Bloomberg, in an interview with Tesla Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen, asked whether the company planned to adjust the door handle design to alleviate any concerns that regulatory agencies might have.
Regarding the interior latch concerns in the United States:
- Von Holzhausen said that, while a mechanical door release resolves this problem, Tesla plans to “combine the two” to help reduce stress in what he called “panic situations.”
- He also added that “it’s in the cars now…The idea of combining the electronic and the manual one together in one button, I think, makes a lot of sense.” Franz said the muscle memory of reaching for the same button will be advantageous for children and anyone who is in an emergency.
Regarding the exterior door handle concerns in China:
- Von Holzhausen said Tesla is reviewing the details of the regulation and confirmed, “We’ll have a really good solution for that. I’m not worried about it.”
Franz von Holzhausen (from Tesla’s Robovan) on Tesla’s upcoming redesigned door handles: pic.twitter.com/lnaKve1SlJ
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) September 17, 2025
The new Model Y already has emergency mechanical door release latches in the back, but combining them in future vehicles seems to be an ideal solution for other vehicles in Tesla’s lineup.
It will likely help Tesla avoid complaints from owners about not having an out in the event of a power outage or accident. It is a small engineering change that could be extremely valuable for future instances.
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Elon Musk calls out viral claim of 10,000 Tesla Optimus deal: “Fake”
For now at least, Tesla seems determined to focus on the development of Optimus V3.
Elon Musk has provided some clarification to recent reports suggesting that PharmAGRI, a US pharmaceutical and agricultural infrastructure company, is looking to deploy 10,000 Optimus robots for its operations.
Musk posted his clarification on social media platform X.
Alleged Optimus purchase
Recently, reports emerged stating that PharmAGRI Capital Partners will be tapping into Tesla’s humanoid robots for its operations. The firm claimed that it had executed a Letter of Intent with Tesla to deploy up to 10,000 Optimus Gen 3+ humanoid robots across its SuperPharm and CEA facilities. This should allow the company to automate its labor and ensure diversion control.
A comment from Lynn Stockwell, Chairwoman & CEO, suggested that the company really was partnering with Tesla. “With Tesla robotics powering our facilities and DEA-licensed infrastructure in place, we can scale with precision, meet federal sourcing mandates, and deliver therapies that are compliant, secure, and American-made,” she said.
Elon Musk clariies
News of PharmAGRI’s Optimus claims quickly spread on social media, though some Tesla watchers argued that it seemed unlikely that the EV maker will commit two legions of Optimus robots to a rather unknown company this early. Some pointed out that Tesla typically commits to high-profile customers to test its early products, such as PepsiCo with the Tesla Semi.
Photos from PharmAGRI’s website depicting Tesla Optimus bots, as well as the rather basic look of the website itself, also brought more reservations to the company’s claims. Ultimately, Elon Musk weighed in on the matter, responding to a post about PharmAGRI’s Optimus-filled webpage. Musk was quick and direct, simply stating, “Fake.”
Elon Musk’s comments were quite unsurprising considering that Optimus is still very much in active development, and thus, it is quite unlikely that the company is already taking orders or even Letters of Intent from potential customers at this time. For now at least, Tesla seems determined to focus on the development of Optimus V3, which Musk has noted will be “sublime.”
Tesla gets price target increase on Wall Street, but it’s a head-scratcher
Tesla addresses door handle complaints with simple engineering fix
Elon Musk calls out viral claim of 10,000 Tesla Optimus deal: “Fake”
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