There were high hopes when Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and the PSA Group officially completed their merger on January 16, 2021. But things haven’t worked out quite as planned, the automaker now known as Stellantis struggling to reverse a sharp decline in sales and earnings. While the company insists it’s on the mend, some wonder if it would be better to consider this a failed experiment and break the company up. That notably includes former CEO Carlos Tavares. Headlight.News has more.
Strong sales by the Jeep and Ram brands helped Stellantis reverse its long sales slide during the third quarter, even as Volkswagen faltered in the face of a challenging economy. While U.S. auto sales are running stronger than expected, analysts still worry about the impact of tariffs and the federal government shutdown in the months ahead.
With so many different brands – and products — to choose from it’s likely no surprise that consumer loyalty has been on a long decline. But some manufacturers still stand out, and Ford Motor Co. comes out on top according to the latest study by S&P Global Mobility. Headlight.News looks at the other winners – and why Tesla was an “unprecedented” loser.
Tariffs Drag Stellantis Deep Into the Red – and Will Get Worse in 2nd Half, Automaker Warns
U.S. and European trade negotiators reached the framework agreement on a new trade deal that will result in new, 15% tariffs on most European goods shopped to the States, including automobiles. That’s a sixfold increases from before and for buyers of products from brands like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Fiat and Maserati, that could mean substantially higher prices. It could also hammer profits for those manufacturers – though U.S. negotiators hope the deal will see more production moved to the United States. More from Headlight.News.
New Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa isn’t wasting time. He’s shaking up the automaker’s executive ranks – the latest move seeing Ram boss Tim Kuniskis expand his roll to include North American Marketing and Retail Strategy – while also reviving the old Street and Racing Technology division better known simply as SRT. More from Headlight.News.
Stellantis has a new CEO. After a nearly 6-month search, Antonio Filosa steps into the vacancy created by the unexpected resignation of Carlos Tavares last December. The 51-year-old Filosa faces some serious challenges, including weak sales by key brands Ram and Jeep. He may also face the question of whether to abandon some of the 14 Stellantis brands, such as Chrysler and Fiat. More from Headlight.News.
A German court has convicted four former Volkswagen managers of fraud in connection with the “Dieselgate” scandal that saw the automaker pay out more than $33 billion in fines and other costs for rigging diesel emissions data. Two of the VW employees face prison time. More from Headlight.News.
Nearly a half year after the unexpected resignation of Carlos Tavares, the founding chief executive of Stellantis, the Euro-American automaker has yet to name a replacement. But the search may be coming to an end, according to a new report which says Antonio Filosa, currently the head of Americas operations for Stellantis, has become the leading candidate.
The promised turnaround at Stellantis all but sputtered out during the first quarter as sales in the U.S. dropped by double digits. With the search for a new CEO still ongoing, the Euro-American automaker struggles to find its direction, reports Headlight.News.
Back when Lee Iacocca was running Chrysler the company famously offered motorists a chance to “Buy a Car, Get a Check.” These days, the automaker is part of a trans-Atlantic conglomerate and Stellantis has a new pitch aimed at its U.S. union workers: quit your job and get a check. More from Headlight.News.
If you’ve been looking at one of the new Jeep Wagoner S Launch Edition models but can’t quite get your head around the $71,995 starting price – before factoring in delivery fees – the off-road brand rolled out a more affordable option at the Chicago Auto Show Thursday, the Wagoneer S Limited. And while it may be more than $6,000 cheaper, the “mid-range” model still has a lot going for it, starting with a 500-hp all-wheel-drive electric drivetrain. Headlight.News has more on the new model – and other Jeep news.