- Automotive giant Stellantis makes cars under 14 global brands, and has a partial relationship with a growing Chinese brand
- Amid a sales slowdown, the company is reportedly assessing the viability of each
Stellantis is an automotive giant. The corporate behemoth sells cars under 14 of its own brand names on most continents, and has a burgeoning relationship with a fifteenth.
But its sales have slowed, and the company thinks it might not make sense to compete with itself by selling under so many brands.
Reuters reports that new CEO Antonio Filosa has launched an “emergency room” to try to get the company back on track. It might include trimming some brands.
Company Has Seven Brands in the U.S.
- U.S. brands include well-known names like Jeep and Ram, and slower sellers like Fiat and Alfa Romeo
- But Reuters says trimming is most likely in Europe
In the U.S., Stellantis sells cars under the Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati, and Ram names. In Europe, it also sells as Abarth, Citroën, DS, Lancia, Opel, Peugeot, and Vauxhall. A new agreement may see it sell EVs in South America made by China’s Leapmotor .
Under former CEO Carlos Tavares, Reuters explains, the company “sought high margins through a combination of cost-cutting and price hikes that sparked a customer exodus.”
Filosa, who until recently ran Jeep, has a different focus. He “is prioritizing vehicle sales growth over profits, including resorting to lower-margin fleet sales and investing in affordable models to recapture market share in North America and Europe.”
That could mean cutting higher-priced models or even brands from the portfolio.
The business surgeons are more likely to cut European brands than U.S. names, Reuters reports, as many models clearly overlap in both price and appeal.
But Chrysler needs a revamp. The brand currently sells just two products, the Pacifica minivan and the Voyager minivan, which is essentially just a trim level of the Pacifica. Alfa Romeo and Fiat have also seen slow sales, with Fiat recently announcing plans to double its U.S. lineup from one car to two. It will sell a tiny electric minicar, the Topolino, with a top speed of just 28 mph.
The situation resembles the form General Motors found itself in during the 2008 financial crisis. It responded by shuttering Pontiac, Hummer, Saturn, and Oldsmobile in the U.S. Ironically, it also sold Opel and Vauxhall, which are now with Stellantis.
