For those unaware: Stellanis is a corporation formed from a merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugot. They collectively control 14 well-known car brands, including Chrysler, Dodge, and Maserati.
Stellanis CEO Carlos Tavares resigned this week on Sunday. He was Stellanis’ first CEO after its formation in 2021. The news comes as Stellanis and virtually every “traditional” carmaker has come under significant pressure in the post-pandemic period from a myriad of factors, including decreased consumer demand, competition from Chinese EV makers, and regulatory upheaval surrounding electrification.
Upon its inception, Stellanis had committed to maintaining all 14 of its marques. As the company’s financial position worsened, this stance came under pressure as it was blamed primarily for Stellanis’ losses. Indeed, Stellanis share prices have plummeted 40% in 2024 alone (whereas most car companies’ share prices have not dropped by nearly this degree), and in the first six months of this year operating income had also dropped 40%.
Sources indicate a direct reason for Tavares’ ouster was because the board felt he was not working in the best interests of the company by instead working on short-term solutions to shore up his own position. More interestingly, Stellanis shareholders had actually sued the company in August 2024 alleging fraud and that the company had inflated its stock values. They further accused Tavares’s compensation of being inflated and having shrunk Stellanis market share. While maintaining 14 car brands could likely be positioned as a contemporaneously rational choice, it would seem the latter accusation would be hard to justify as such.
As one final note, being interested in cars myself, I am perpetually amazed at how Stellanis somehow to amassed a collection of companies that all make some of the most consistently unreliable cars in the industry…
And this news came not long after Timothy Kuniskis, the CEO of stellantis marque Chrysler retired from his position.
I think car companies are prime examples of corporate personalities being more than just legal personalities. The public actually associate certain human qualities with a brand’s image and loyal customers buy products because they subscribe to the brand images that they believe represent their own personalities.
I think Stellantis is in trouble because their brands loss their emotional/ personality appeals, not just because they have made objectively bad cars (plenty of brands make objectively unreliable cars and still do well). A prime example of Stellantis’ personality crisis is this cringeworthy advert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGAZkn11hcw&t=558s
So, this just happened: Ex-Dodge, Ram boss Tim Kuniskis returning to Stellantis after CEO’s exit
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/ex-dodge-ram-boss-tim-kuniskis-returning-to-stellantis-after-ceo-s-exit/ar-AA1vyy2v
It seems on the front of brand personality, stellantis is trying to inject more americana to its Ram brand.
Personally I don’t think this will help stellantis as a whole though. Despite that Ram has many enthusiatic fans, today’s car industry’s biggest money makers are affordable and practical passenger cars (at least when looking at the global market).