This past weekend chief executive Carlos Tavares has reigned from Stellantis, the maker of Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, Dodge, Alfa Romeo, Maserati, and Fiat, as the automaker battles a profit slump and weakened U.S. sales. 

Tavares handed over the reigns to a newly created interim committee headed by chairman John Elkann. The company will name a new CEO in the first half of 2025. The veteran automotive executive has been under pressure since Stellantis slashed its profit forecast in September and prepared for a cash burn of up to 10 billion euros. The automaker mostly blamed slowing sales and bloated inventories in its crucial North American market. But there was much more to its failures, the CEO did not understand the US marketplace and doubled down on an all EV lineup and removed all performance engines and trims like the Hemi, Hellcat, Demon, Abarth, and Quadrifoglio.

The results of not reading the market and consumers, shares of Stellantis, the world’s fourth largest automaker by sales, have tumbled over 43% so far this year. Tavares has led Stellantis since its formation in 2021, through the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot owner PSA. Previously we knew it as FCA.

Most Americans are familiar with the term, The Big Three which was know as Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler (now Stellantis). Stellantis is now based in Belgium. Making the current Big Three: Ford, General Motors, and Tesla. Today, Stellantis operates a surprising 14 major auto brands worldwide. In the U.S., its nameplates include Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati, and Ram.

In recent years, many of those brands have misstepped. Stellantis cut lower-priced entry-level and top performance models from most of its brands. The 2025 Chrysler lineup consists entirely of minivans – the upscale Pacifica and reborn Voyager, which is essentially a bare-bones trim level of Pacifica.

Fiat, reintroduced to the American market for the 2012 model year after a long absence, has a full lineup of vehicles in Europe. In America, it’s down to one for 2025, the small 500e electric car. Many Fiat dealers have leftover 2023 Fiat 500x subcompact SUVs to sell.

Across all product lines, sales in the first half of 2024 fell 14%, and profits plummeted by nearly half.  

Dealerships typically aim to keep about 60 selling days worth of cars on the lot. Much of the auto industry is close to that target late in 2024. Stellantis brands are well over that. Which means they made more cars than they can sell. People aren’t buying them because of high interest rates and low demand. Ram trucks and Dodge vehicles have over 133 days of supply, that is half of years worth of vehicle sales.

Stellantis brand dealers sent a “blistering letter” to Stellantis corporate “calling out Tavares over the direction of the company,” according to the Detroit Free Press reports. They have millions of dollars invested in their dealerships and inventory. The result was that many executives were replaced but that has not helped sales.

The company will “review the performance of all its brands to determine whether to reduce the size of its portfolio as early as 2026. What does this mean? The company could sell off some brands without affecting American car shoppers much. “Analysts have hypothesized that Maserati, Lancia, or DS,” the latter two not sold in the U.S., “may be targets for a sale, given their smaller profile,” MSN news stated.

Rumors persistently threaten Chrysler with its current tiny lineup. Closing a brand in America is complicated because of the complex relationship between automakers and their dealers. Chrysler will also celebrate its 100th birthday in 2025. A century of brand equity is a lot to give up.known 

The company could also choose to keep a brand like Fiat in Europe, where it is successful, but pull it out of the U.S., where it is struggling.

Are we witnessing the end of Stellantis as we know it? It would be a shame to close or remove brands from the US market that are not selling well in the US, but Stellantis has issues much like that of Nissan and Jaguar.

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