No surprises which two brands Stellantis is focusing on here — but the other brands still aren’t going anywhere.
Stellantis, the entity comprising the former Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Peugeot Group, is shifting its long-term strategy according to a recent report from Reuters. The world’s fourth-largest automaker will outline the new plan more specifically in Detroit on May 21, but before that, sources told the outlet the strategy hinges on four brands: Jeep, Ram, Peugeot and Fiat.
Though the Jeep and Ram brands are instantly recognizable to American audiences (Fiat is practically nonexistent in terms of sales these days), Stellantis’ umbrella actually pulls together 14 brands worldwide. In addition to Jeep and Ram, it also controls Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat (and its Abarth performance division), Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Peugeot, Citroën, DS Automobiles, Opel, Vauxhall and Lancia. However, CEO Antonio Filosa oversees the automaker at a time when it continues to struggle financially, writing down billions in losses as it pulls back on EVs. Its stock value has also plummeted in recent months, after hitting a peak in early 2024.
What is Filosa’s plan? To focus on the brands that “really matter”, according to those within the company close to the matter. Specifically, and unlike his predecessor Carlos Tavares, Filosa aims to shift resources toward high-sales and high-profit brands from a regional perspective (i.e. North America vs. Europe vs. other markets). The four ‘core brands’ mentioned above will supposedly get a “material increase” in funding. That shake-up pivots away from Tavares’ tenure at the automaker’s helm, during which he distributed Stellantis’ resources more evenly — or away from North America as the automaker’s potential profit engine, depending on your point of view.
So…what does this mean for all the other brands?
With this latest revelation, a familiar question pops up. It’s a question we’ve been asking even before the Stellantis era: What happens to all the other brands? For example, what happens to Dodge and Chrysler under this new reported strategy?
Chrysler has been a particularly rich vein for speculation over the years, as this plan makes practically no mention of the brand, which currently makes just one product. The plan, as covered by Reuters through these internal sources, is not to sunset its lower-performing brands, at least for now. Instead, other brands will be used more tactically in certain markets. The four core brands may get the bulk of the funding, then the regional brands could see models built upon the same platforms with different designs to set them apart.
If that sounds familiar, like it’s similar to GM’s strategy when it had brands like Saturn, Pontiac, Saab, etc., that could be fairly close to the mark. Lacking specifics from the actual Investor Day presentation next month, it’s still a little unclear what this move means for some of the ancillary brands. The move does track with Stellantis’ move to combine models onto a few select “multi-energy” platforms like STLA Medium and STLA Large to more efficiently manage development and production costs.
As ever, we’ll have to wait and see when more details emerge on May 21. Expect to see a lot more on Jeep and Ram if you’re focusing on the U.S. market, and more on Fiat and Peugeot if you’re over in Europe, where those two brands represent nearly half the automakers’ sales in the region.
