STELLANTIS will review the performance of all its brands starting 2026 as the world’s fourth-largest car-maker cuts costs, faces a conflicting EV future and battles production issues in the US, Europe and China, according to auto media reports.
The company’s CEO, Carlos Tavares, who is under massive pressure from Wall Street and US dealers, said the review will determine whether to reduce the size of its model portfolio. “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,” he said at the recent Paris motor show.
As an example of what could be expected from the review, Mr Tavares told journalists that he said Maserati’s problems were because of marketing issues and not because of technology and product problems.
Mr Tavares is to retire in early 2026 with his successor expected to be announced by the end of 2025. He said the final decision on the future of Stellantis’ 14 brands would most likely fall to his successor.
Mr Tavares said that when Stellantis was created in 2021, each brand in the group started with an approved 10-year product plan in which the first five years were fully financed.
Automotive News Europe is reporting that Mr Tavares said: “So far we delivered on our commitments. We already launched the STLA Medium platform, which debuted with the Peugeot 3008 and, when needed, we re-scheduled some product launches due to changing conditions, but we did not cancel any.”
Mr Tavares is also reported to be facing intense criticism from his US dealer network. On September 30, US institutions warned that the days of lucrative US truck and Jeep sales were over, triggering further falls in Stellantis shares. The stock is now down nearly 45 per cent year-to-date.
It was reported that Mr Tavares initially brushed off the US problems as a “small operational error” but Stellantis shares resumed their slide on October 11 as news of his exit when his contract expires in 2026 and a major management reshuffle failed to soothe investors.
Automotive News Europe said that Mr Tavares will be under pressure to explain how he plans to revive Stellantis’ fortunes in his remaining 18 months at the helm at a time of growing competition from cheaper Chinese rivals, weak demand, and rising costs.
Stellantis dealers in the US have complained that products are over-priced after the brand scrapped entry-level models and under-invested in popular cars while rivals including Ford and General Motors revamped theirs.Ford in particular has eaten into Jeep’s market with its Bronco SUV.
In a September 10 letter to Mr Tavares, Stellantis’s US national dealer council president Kevin Farrish complained the pursuit of short-term profits meant “rapid degradation” of the Jeep, Dodge, Ram and Chrysler brands, adding: “You created this problem.”
David Kelleher, the president of Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram dealership David Auto Group in Philadelphia, said when Stellantis was created in 2021 he sold an average of 165 new cars per month. This year, that has fallen to 89.
“We need a CEO who understands the North American market,” Mr Kelleher said.
By Neil Dowling