Stellantis: History and legacy of automobile manufacturers
We explore the history of Stellantis, the automotive giant formed in 2021 through the merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA Group.
- One of the most difficult tasks for the next CEO is culling a flock of Stellantis.
- Carlos Tavares, who won a vacant CEO, said all brands (14) will be given 10 years to create a business case for survival.
Antonio Filosa, head of the North American business of Jeep, Lamb, Dodge, Chrysler and other Stellarantis, is a leading candidate for becoming the next CEO of a large automaker, and Carlos Tavarez set out in December to create a relationship between selling and selling and dealing with the automaker, and to develop a sales and relationship.
Filosa looks like a good choice. While working in South America, Naples engineers oversaw the launch of a Brazilian factory that made Jeep the country’s best-selling SUV brand.
Since coming to Detroit a year ago, he has seen the chaos that Stellantis’ biggest money makers, Jeep and Ram, have brought bad management and production decisions.
“The whole point is selling more, right?” Filosa told the Free Press in January. “It’s a very complicated business, but it’s a customer who is willing to buy our cars, we need to find more of them,” he said.
It sounds simple, but the first and most difficult task for the next CEO is to decide which of the 14 automaker brands will drop and which brands to shrink.
Tavares failed the leadership test when Stellantis was formed in 2021, and he said all brands will be given 10 years to create a business case to survive.
That timeline was nonsense. Stellantis doesn’t have enough money and talent to develop a complete model line for many brands. There are no automakers.
The lineup has expired for culling.
What to keep, what to kill
The next CEO should come to an office that is willing to quickly eliminate badges such as Chrysler, Maserati, Lancia, DS, and more. It retains popular model names and features, but stop pretending that all model lines are needed.
Make the main thing the main thing.
There are protests and litigation, but there are some brands that need to go, from old and historic to new and full of new, for the ultimate interests of automaker shareholders, workers and dealers.
The delicate periods are long. Stellantis requires radical surgery.
If you look at the brand here, it has to continue and it needs to be scaled down.
Rum
It is a proven money maker and is the mainstay in the American pickup market. Pick up style, interior features and technology for less than GM and Ford charges.
Rum is an immaterial outside of North America. Still, it holds an unbalanced share of Stellantis’s revenue and profits. Stellantis will become a more international player with medium and compact models, and will always need to recharge premiums in American style and luxury features.
Jeep
Crown jewel. Every car manufacturer on the planet wants it to own a Jeep. Jeep accounts for 15% of Stellantis’ sales. Treat it like a valuable resource: the brightest mind and the best features and ideas go there first.
Don’t force your Jeep growth by adding inadequately defined and executed vehicles. Jeep must be a brand driven by demand, not a volume chasing.
Chrysler
It’s a model, not a brand. Call Minivans Chrysler Pacifica, Town & Country and more. But drop the expensive charades of developing other new vehicles. Chrysler needed an electric SUV that was promised and recently deferred, so that Pacifica would need an umlaut. pacific ocean? no thanks. I know what you are. Save cash and intellectual capital for dodge.
Dodge
“American muscles” is an identity that can thrive. Feed with sportier cars and SUVs. Be bold, brave and loud. everytime. The Daytona electric charger and the upcoming six-pack of gasoline-powered chargers are just the beginning.
Peugeot
Too big to fail, this mainstream brand accounts for around 20% of group sales. It currently only benefits if the resources directed towards that small sibling are redirected that way.
Peugeot dives into SUVs and EVs with more cleverness and commitment than other mainstream European brands. Reward it and raise the brand’s presence and fame beyond Europe.
Citroen/ds
As an American, I’m probably in the worst position to choose from these two best French brands, but I say I’ll restore the sheen to Citroen, a brand that was once synonymous with Parisian styling and French ingenuity.
Citroen sells 1 from the DS 8, and the entire DS identity (even by its name) comes from Citroen’s past victory, like the Epochal 1955-’75 DS sedan.
DS branded vehicles deserve praise, but the established Citroen brands probably should have gotten them in the first place.
Opel/Vauxhall
Keep both. The difference between German Opel and British-born Vochall is primarily linguistic and is the cost of the griffon and lightning badge. The vehicles are roughly the same, and Opel will do business in more than dozens of languages, even if the UK-only Vauxhall badge is removed.
There is little to gain from killing Vauxhall. And it cannot be ignored that ignites nationalist feelings about the cost of new dealer signs and Opel.
Lancia
The question isn’t whether Lancia should disappear. The question is how long it takes for everyone to realize it’s gone.
This 119-year-old luxury brand exists only in Italy and is hardly there. Pull the plug.
Fiat
It’s too big to fail, too much to be damaged to return to glory. Make it absorbs popular Lancia models, trim levels, or features. Building on 500s strength among miniature cars, but don’t hold your breath to succeed with a bigger vehicle. That’s what Peugeot, Opel and Alfa Romeo are all about.
Averse
Abarth’s glorious tri-color Crosonne badges are at more trim levels than the brand, adorning mainstream Fiat performance models and strengthening the brand’s reputation. Avers is low cost, high returns and should be encouraged.
Alfa Romeo/Maserati
Simple rules: you get 1 Italian luxury sports brand.
One of these has to go. I don’t care either way, but the brothers’ rivalry to the rare resources of Italian luxury sports brands has weakened both over the decades.
I think Alfa has more advantages as it can support vehicles priced from 30kk to 6 figures. In Europe, a cent is spent on ads for DS, and Lancia should go to attract buyers to Alpha.
So Mr./ms. Next CEO. I started my day with 14 brands. We are now 10 years old and we have plans on how to make the most of our survivors.
And it’s not even lunch yet.
Please contact Mark Phelan: 313-222-6731 or mmphelan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mark_phelan. Please read more Auto And sign up for us Automotive Newsletter. Become a subscriber.
