Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares is retiring at the end of his term in early 2026, and decisions on which of its 14 brands will survive will likely fall to his successor.
“We will review each [Stellantis] brand’s performance at about two-thirds of the way through the Dare Forward 2030 plan, so you could expect decisions in two to three years,” Mr Tavares told media at the Paris motor show, in remarks reported by Automotive News Europe.
He added that while Stellantis had rescheduled some product launches due to “changing conditions” since its formation, it hadn’t cancelled any launches.
A successor for Mr Tavares will be appointed by the fourth quarter of 2025.
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DS Automobiles range
To recap, Stellantis was formed in 2021 by a merger of Groupe PSA and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and that year Mr Tavares said all 14 brands had been handed a “time window of 10 years and [given] funding for 10 years to do a core model strategy”.
It defined its brands as follows:
- Fiat/Abarth and Citroen are its Core brands
- Opel/Vauxhall and Peugeot are its Upper Mainstream brands
- Alfa Romeo, DS and Lancia are its Premium brands
- Chrysler, Dodge and Ram are its American brands
- Maserati is its sole Luxury brand
- Jeep is its Global SUV brand
While Stellantis had committed to all 14 of its brands for a period of 10 years, Mr Tavares recently made remarks indicating he was willing to pull the plug on some of them.
Citroen e-C4 X
“There is no taboo. There is absolutely no taboo, the brands are intangible assets that we respect, we believe that they are here to be leveraged,” Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares told Bloomberg Television earlier this year.
“We could celebrate this year the 125th anniversary of Fiat and Opel, which demonstrates that the brands are stronger than the legal entities, stronger than the political regimes, and they can cross wars, survive, and get better.
“So we do respect the brands, we do respect the fan bases of the brands, but there is no taboo.
“If they are not able to monetise the value that they represent, then decisions will come.”
Maserati GranTurismo
Chief financial officer Natalie Knight went even further, saying, “There could be some point in the future when we look at what’s the best home for [Maserati].”
After these remarks were published, Stellantis put out a statement stating its “unwavering commitment to Maserati’s bright future as the unique luxury brand of the 14 Stellantis brands”.
In October, the company announced Ms Knight would be leaving the company amid a reshuffling of the executive suite, which included Jeep CEO Antonio Filosa becoming Stellantis’ chief operating officer in North America and Santo Ficili being appointed CEO of Maserati and Alfa Romeo.
Maserati is the only Stellantis brand to report its individual financial results.
This led to much speculation about its future when for the first half of 2023 it posted an adjusted operating loss of €82 million (A$135.84 million) and a negative 13 per cent adjusted operating margin, down from a profit of €121 million (A$200 million) and a positive 9.2 per cent margin in 2023.
Its sales also fell by more than half compared to the first six months of 2023.
Alfa Romeo Tonale
It’s far from the only brand that has been the target of speculation concerning its future.
Lancia is embarking on a quixotic quest to expand its lineup and return from its self-imposed exile to the Italian market, while Chrysler – following the axing of its 300 – is down to a single model sold in a limited number of markets.
Stellantis released revised 2024 financial guidance for the entire corporation on September 30, announcing it expected its positive industrial free cash flow to plunge to negative flow in the range of -€5 billion to -€10 billion (-A$8.1bn to -A$16.2bn).
It also expects its adjusted operating income margin to be between 5.5 and 7.0 per cent for the financial year, down from a previous double-digit projection.
It blamed lower than expected sales performance in the second half of the year across “most regions”.
Ram 1500
It has been busily trying to “normalise” inventory levels in the US after having amassed too much supply.
Its moves in the crucial US market – where Jeep and Ram have traditionally been major profit drivers – have led to criticism from the head of the Stellantis National Dealer Council.
“In 2023, you engineered a record year of profitability for Stellantis, earning you the title of the highest-compensated automotive CEO,” Kevin Farrish – who also runs a Jeep, Ram, Dodge and Chrysler dealer in Virginia – said in a letter to Mr Tavares.
“You personally earned a record amount of almost US$40 million (A$59.6 million) that year.
Dodge Charger Daytona
“Unfortunately, the engineering and structuring of that year have led us to exactly where we told your executives we would be today. The reckless short-term decision-making to secure record profits in 2023 has had devastating, yet entirely predictable, consequences in the US market.
“Those consequences include the rapid degradation of our iconic American brands – brands like Jeep, Dodge, Ram, and Chrysler that have over a century of history in America.
“The market share of your brands has been slashed nearly in half, Stellantis stock price is tumbling, plants are closing, layoffs are rampant, and key executives fleeing the company.
“Investor lawsuits, supplier lawsuits, strikes – the fallout is mounting. Your own distribution network, your dealer body, has been left in an anaemic and diminished state.”
Mr Farrish called on Mr Tavares to clear out old inventory and get the plants working at full capacity.
Jeep Wrangler
Stellantis responded in a statement, calling Mr Farrish’s letter a “public personal attack” and saying the action plan it developed with the dealer body was already yielding results.
Brands like Alfa Romeo and Fiat have also been struggling in the US market.
Looking at the Australian market in the first nine months of this year, only Fiat (including Abarth and Fiat Professional) has posted an increase on the same period last year, up 110.3 per cent.
Alfa Romeo is down 1.4 per cent, Jeep is down 48.9 per cent, Maserati is down 38.4 per cent, and Peugeot is down 13.0 per cent.
Citroen is also down 39.8 per cent year-to-date, and is withdrawing from the local market.
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