Stellantis and Ford are out with their quarterly financial reports and neither are great, but only one CEO is out here threatening to murder brands. Can you guess the company and the CEO? You and I both know it’s Stellantis and our buddy Carlos Tavares.
I’ll keep this in some kind of logical order this morning, so let’s kick it off with a quick dip into the Stellantis numbers and why they’re so bad. We’ll then follow it up with all the brands that Tavares is threatening to knock off, ranked by how likely that’ll happen.
How’s Ford doing? Ford is doing fine. It’s still losing money on electric cars, but its commercial vehicle unit is killing it right now.
And, finally, Volvo is rethinking its plans to go all-EV and instead is thinking about those hybrids. Alright, let’s dump!
Stellantis Is Either In A Rough Transition Or Boned
It’s almost as if trying to squeeze as much money as you can out of old product, making your suppliers hate you, and firing a bunch of engineers doesn’t always work. I wrote at the end of the first quarter that I was concerned that Stellantis couldn’t stick the landing and, so far, Stellantis has not stuck the landing.
This was always going to be a rough year for the company as it starts to roll out new cars while, at the same time, trying to sell a backlog of its older models. The pandemic years were great for the Stellantis, as it was able to book huge profits because of vehicle scarcity and low interest rates. That wasn’t going to last forever.
Still, it feels like they’re doing worse than I’d have guessed. This isn’t to say that it’s hopeless or that Carlos Tavares, pictured, doesn’t have a plan. He does seem to have a plan, it’s just I’m not convinced that plan will work.
You can look at the whole first half presentation here and see how the company tries to rah rah the weak results. Stellantis as a whole made a net profit of $6 billion in the first half of the year, which sounds good until you consider that’s down a lot compared to the $8.3 billion they did in the first six months of 2023. Revenues are down 14% and the company’s margin dropped to 10%, which isn’t the worst in the industry but is bad for Stellantis.
Here’s how Tavares put it:
The Company’s performance in the first half of 2024 fell short of our expectations, reflecting both a challenging industry context as well as our own operational issues. While corrective actions were needed and are being taken to address these issues, we also have initiated an exciting product blitz, with no fewer than 20 new vehicles launching this year, and with that brings bigger opportunities when we execute well. We have significant work to do, especially in North America, to maximize our long-term potential. I want to thank every employee for their teamwork and commitment during this very consequential chapter of our story.
What’s the product, exactly, that’ll take them to the next level? This is what I want to know. The new Dodge Charger is interesting, I’m super excited about the Ramcharger, but that’s about it right now.
Ok, So Then What Should Stellantis Kill?
I’m not saying Stellantis should kill any brands, but Tavares, pictured above, is suggesting that this is what’s going to happen if certain brands can’t keep up.
This comes from Reuters:
“If they don’t make money, we’ll shut them down,” Carlos Tavares told reporters after the world’s No. 4 automaker delivered worse-than-expected first-half results, sending its shares down as much as 10%.
“We cannot afford to have brands that do not make money.”
Wasn’t this the same guy who, like, three years ago said that all these brands had ten years to prove their worth? Yes, it’s the same guy.
“For the time being, we love them all,” Tavares said from his home in Portugal during an Automotive News World Congress webinar. “Each (brand) CEO has 10 years for which I am telling him or her that he has the funding, the ability to build his long-term business plan and plan for the different product launches and technologies to make the brand grow or rebound and create value for the company.”
Ok, so he doesn’t quite feel that way now that the pandemic is over and he’s not raking in money. So here is, I think, a list of brands they’ll cut in order from least to most likely.
SAFE BRANDS
- Jeep – That’s where the money is, at least for now. The company’s one true global brand.
- Leapmotor – This isn’t a first-in/first-out situation. Leapmotor is the most recent brand in the portfolio and cheap Chinese-built EVs are seen as the future so it would be wild to cut it just after bringing it on board.
- Peugeot – Stellantis is at least partially owned by the French state, so good luck with that.
- Fiat – Over Agnelli/Exor’s dead body right? The Italians are never gonna let this happen.
- Ram –Â That’s where a lot of money is, at least in the Americas.
- Citroën – The value of this brand is questionable, but I don’t see the French government supporting this.
- Dodge – It’s too American to cut. A Stellantis without Dodge is not the same company.
PROBABLY SAFE BRANDS
- Opel – It’s a strong, recognizable European brand with a decent portfolio.
- Vauxhall – I guess the same as above, but take about 25% off there.
- Abarth – If you’ve got Fiat you might as well keep Abarth.
- Alfa Romeo – It’s not a great brand in the United States, but there’s enough European appeal that it’s hard to see this going away.
HARDER TO MAKE AN ARGUMENT FOR
- Maserati – Someone wants Maserati, but it cost the company $90 million this year in losses, so maybe that someone is not Stellantis.
THE REDUNDANCIES
- Chrysler – Chrysler has a minivan and… that’s it. Nothing else. We know that it’ll get more, but does America need two different car brands? This would suck.
- DS – Hey, DS! France’s Chrysler. I love the DS brand and there was a time when the former-PSA did a good job of making unique DS cars. Those days are behind us now.
- Lancia – Hey, it’s Italy’s DS! Why does this brand still exist?
That’s my guess, at least.
[Ed Note: I think Maserati is the first to go. And if we’re using our brains and not our hearts, Alfa is right there after it. I also think Ram should just be Dodge again. -DT].Â
Ford’s Quarter Was Not Great, Not Terrible
Ford’s Q2 report is also out and the company saw revenues of about $48 billion, which was higher than what was expected, but its net income of $1.8 billion and EPS (earnings per share) were a little lower than expected.
What’s going on with Ford? Quality, quality, quality. All those warranty claims are starting to pile up and weigh down the automaker’s profits according to the press release:
Profitability was affected by an increase in warranty reserves, though efforts to lift the quality of new products are starting to pay off, with positive implications for customer satisfaction and Ford’s operating performance.
Ford split itself into three big divisions: Ford Blue (regular cars/hybrids), Ford Model e (electric cars), and Ford Pro (commercial vehicles/trucks). Ford Pro is killing it, making a 15.1% margin and bringing in $17 billion in revenue in Q2. Ford Blue made more in revenue at $26.7 billion, but with a much lower margin of 4.4%, so it’s less profitable overall.
And Ford Model e? It lost $400 million less than it had a year prior, but pricing pressure resulted in a -99.5% margin, which is real bad.
Volvo: Let’s Make Some More Hybrids
Year of the Hybrid? More like Decade of the Hybrid. Volvo has been the most militant of the major brands about going fully electric after 2030.
Let’s check in with Automotive News to see how that’s going:
Volvo Chief Commercial Officer Bjorn Annwall vowed last year that the automaker would not “sell a single car” globally that is not fully electric after 2030.
“There’s no ifs, no buts,” Annwall told Automotive News in June 2023.
Now, faced with slumping EV sales in key markets such as China and the U.S., Volvo’s leadership could be reconsidering going all-in on battery power.
Automotive News checked in with an unnamed dealer, who said the following:
“We will have to, or we will die,” said a dealer who requested not to be identified. “Volvo has gotten way out over their skis with this EV-only strategy.”
In the next decade, Volvo will focus on supplying plug-in hybrids while the EV market matures in the U.S. and elsewhere, said a person familiar with the company’s plans.
“They are keeping their fingers crossed that PHEVs will start to be looked at favorably by the different governments,” said the person, who asked not to be identified while speaking about internal matters.
Life comes at ya fast.
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
I will once again restate my belief that every Fiona Apple album is better than the last, but her debut “Tidal” is 28 years old this week and it’s worth revisiting how earth-shatteringly wonderful that album was. The video for “Never is a Promise” is also intense in a good way. What a talent!
The Big Question
You gotta kill five Stellantis brands. Who you picking?
I was reading somewhere that Walter P Chrysler’s family has been trying to buy the brand back, so that would be interesting.
Did any of the Maserati brothers have children? Can’t find any, too bad.
Give Rikky von Opel the Opel brand, I am sure that Lichtenstein’s greatest Formula One driver can handle it!
Give Abarth to Anneliese.
I wouldn’t put Dodge in the safe list even if I’m bit biased as my 1st car was a Dodge.
The Hornet is a sales dud, the Durango is old and the Charger is new and promising but it’s also part of a declining segment so I wouldn’t put my hopes that high in the brand unless Ram folds back in.
I’d switch Dodge with Opel but everything else looks the way I’d put it.
Second thoughts. My chopping block would look this way:
-Lancia: most consumers have moved on. You can’t even find many Lancias on Italy’s streets anymore
-DS: can live on as a premium trim in Peugeot
-Abarth: can live as a sporty trim in Fiat
-Ram: fold it back into Dodge (just the way it was)
-Maserati: sell it, I’m sure someone would buy that hot potato of a brand.
The only reason Maserati is there is because I think Chrysler can survive if they start selling slightly tweaked Peugeots/Citroens/Opels. Otherwise it can go as well.
“Lancia: most consumers have moved on. You can’t even find many Lancias on Italy’s streets anymore”
The Ypsilon is one of the top selling cars in Italy. It is however their only model.
“DS: can live on as a premium trim in Peugeot”
Blasphemy! That hurt my eyes as if I had just read Cadillac Continental. I think you meant Citroën.
I messed up with Peugeot. I’ll own it.
Can’t change my mind about Lancia, though.
Combine Ram back into Dodge, and sell the best of the PSA/Opel cars as Chryslers in the US. Vauxhall is just a different badge and name for Opel in the UK.
Junk. All of it. Wouldn’t shed a tear to see the entire Stellantis portfolio get towed off into the sunset and end up in whatever graveyard the rest of their garbage is rotting in.
And then the Stellantis US headquarters in Auburn Hills, MI can be transformed into a giant indoor shopping mall (which is what I was told the fallback plan for the building was way back in the 90s when it was first going up). Oh wait, nobody shops at malls these days either. Blow that up too then. Even the building is junk.
I’m not one for the “Kill them. The Lord knows those that are his own” approach but man, FCA/Stellantis continues such a tradition of mediocrity I’m not sure anything but a full purge of management and reincorporation wouldn’t fix more than it breaks.
I’m just adding this tidbit here to maybe elicit some laughs from you lovely people…
If you Google “Chrysler” the #1 Result is the Chrysler site, and the banner/headline says “Minivans, Hybrid Minivans & The 300”.
This is all they sell. The Pacifica (and hybrid variant) and the 300, for now. It’s a surprisingly sparse website.
Fiona Apple is amazing. No matter when you read this.
Chrysler is a dead brand walking. Literally two vehicles on their site. The Pacifica and the 300.
Dodge has four. Hornet, Charger, Challenger, Durango.
Plymouth is dead dead.
Three of the cars left in their combined lineup aren’t long for this world. Pitiful.
Ram has more varieties of trucks than the other two brands have models. Combined. Can you imagine being a salesman for these brands? Yikes!
Did anyone every imagine in the 80’s when Lee Iacocca was CEO this is where we’d be?
Kill Chrysler and roll it into Dodge. Dodge has better name recognition. At least you’d save money on badging.
Killing all of those brands will not even come close to the money stellantis left on the table by not having an answer to RAV4. I bet BMW sells a bunch of X3, Porsche a bunch of Macans, CRVs, down the line it’s likely the volume leader across multiple brands but somehow it seems like at least in the US – Stellantis has NADA (the hornet is too expensive and not selling at it’s price point against X3, Audi Q5 etc
https://www.truecar.com/compare/alfa-romeo-stelvio-vs-bmw-x3/
The Stelvio has been around for almost a decade I believe. based on how few I see here I bet it gets outsold 5 to-1 vs an X3 and I live in a town with an Alfa dealership. The Cherokee is dead. The Dart is small and expensive and seems to have reliablity issues. The Renegade has been around for a long time. The Compass is maybe the only passable alternative IMO but it’s just a boring baby grand cherokee. They just don’t offer much of anything let alone anything exciting in what I assume is the biggest segment in automotive.
I feel like Stellantis isn’t as luxury as they should be, they’re like Chrysler level Luxury, not Maserati.
So Sell of Maserati, and sure Vauxhall/DS/Lancia. Merge Ram back into Dodge, so there’s the 5.
But then make Chrysler like a Cadillac competitor, give the minivan back in Dodge to fill that out more and give the Durango Chrysler as like a Town & Country to compete with the Escalade.
Stop selling Alfa in the US and just rebadge them as Chrysler’s over here. Would the Tonale sell better as a Chrysler instead of a Dodge for the prices they’re asking? Maybe? I mean swap out the grille and they definitely look more Chrysler-y than Dodge.
Well, first kill the redundant brands:
Ram, DS, Lancia, Vauxhall and Chrysler – History.
Maserati gets sent over to Ferrari – for those Ferrari people who need SUVs and 4 seat cars.
That leaves:
Dodge – for Trucks and American mainstream/performance
Jeep – 4wd things for people who think Dodges are too femme.
Fiat – Italian mainstream
Citroen – French mainstream & oddities.
Opel – Northern European mainstream
Peugeot – French-flavored Luxury
Alfa Romeo – Italian-flavored Luxury/Performance
Every brand but Jeep and Alfa get their own version of two sizes of badge engineered MPVs
Every brand but Alfa gets two sizes of badge-engineered crossovers.
Every brand gets at least two sizes of three car lines – S, M or L – badge engineered, of course.
Dodge gets three sizes of trucks – the smallest one shared with Fiat & Opel.
Jeep gets three sizes of SUVs – including the Wrangler. The smallest one is shared with Fiat and Opel
Alfa gets an actual small sports car in coupe and spyder form – one or both of which are shared with Peugeot.
There’s your product line.
You can wire my fee.
Here’s my opinion on this. (Even though plenty of others are sharing theirs)
Dodge and Ram are fine being separate, they’ve been their own thing for long enough, but at the same time, Dodge would bring in more revenue if they were still together. Agreeing with Manwich Sandwich down there, bring back the minivans as rebadged Pacificas, and bring back a Journey (just as a better model, or hell. Bring up the Mexican market one.)
Chrysler: Start selling the European cars under the Chrysler brand in the states (and Canada?) Sell DS and Citroen as Chrysler models, they have plenty of upmarket crossovers. Same with Peugeot. Kill Lancia.
Opel, Vauxhall, Fiat should just share a platform. The cars are all similar enough, and there’s not that much need for competition between the 3.
I know nothing about revenue and stuff but this is my opinion.
Side note, what the hell is going on with Opel and Vauxhall? Last I knew, they were owned by GM and selling models in the states under Buick and formerly Saturn and Saab (another story altogether). Is GM going to still sell rebadged Opel and Vauxhall or is that completely off the table now?
I’d be shocked if Chrysler survived at this point. It’s a van. I love my van, but a single van does not justify a brand. It could easily go back to being the Dodge Caravan anyway.
There’s been talk for seemingly a decade about FCA/Stellantis bringing euro cars over to be rebadged or tweaked into Chryslers, but it just simply hasn’t happened. Now that Chrysler hasn’t had anything but a van (or a ridiculously old 300) for years now, I don’t think anyone takes it as a brand seriously anymore. I just can’t believe that Stellantis, now famous for not actually developing any new products for their American brands, are just going to suddenly do an about-face. What do we expect from a company that seems to be addicted to making awful decisions?
True, this is all self-inflicted damage. You can’t expect to make money off from a brand/product you are not willing to invest in.
The only American brand they’re investing in is Jeep and to a lesser extent Ram
Kill; Lancia, DS. The first is a zombie brand used only in its’ historic home market. The last could become a Citroen sub-brand except that for political reasons they need to sacrifice a French brand and for even-more-political reasons it can’t be Peugeot or Citroen.
Demote; Ram should be Dodge Truck again, most people not collecting a Stellantis paycheck still call it a “Dodge Ram”.
Combine; Peugeot-Citroen and Opel/Vauxhall-Fiat. Peugeot and Opel should be B-segment and larger, Citroen and Fiat only city cars and such. Commercial vehicles in Europe should all be badged Fiat. They also need to get to one dealer channel in Europe as in North America.
Sell off; Alfa Romeo, Maserati.
Chrysler can stay even with only one model because of the combined dealer network while Vauxhall can stay as a zombie brand because it’s UK-only and doesn’t overlap Opel at all.
Regarding Stellantis and their brands… I wouldn’t kill them as much as kills some and combine others.
Ram/Dodge… I would put them back together. Ram goes back to being a truck model under Dodge… undoing one of the more idiotic things Mergio did. And lose the idea that Dodge should be limited to just ‘sporty’ or ‘performance’ vehicles. And bring back the Dodge Caravan and Grand Caravan. And bring back the Dodge Journey as well.
Chrysler… put it back to simply being a more luxurious version of some of Dodge’s models where it makes sense. And bring back the PT Cruiser as a CUV.
DS/Citroen – DS goes back to being a Citroen model
Lancia – kill it and auction off the brand name for someone else to use.
Vauxhall/Opel/Fiat – do selective killing.
So that means…
Keep Vauxhall as a brand for markets where they drive on the other side of the road… and kill Fiat and Opel in those markets. And make it so that in any given market, there is either Vauxhall, Opel OR Fiat. Only one of these three should be in any given market.
Keep Fiat in Italy and other markets it does well, but kill it in North America and other places it does poorly.
Keep Opel in Germany and other Germanic markets, but kill it in Italy and other places that Fiat does well.
And none of them should be in any market that already has Dodge/Chrysler unless it’s a RHD market.
Eliminating Chrysler would be a shame since it is such an iconic brand. After all, we have the Chrysler building in NYC. We lost Plymouth about a decade ago mostly because Chrysler, Dodge and Plymouth were selling the same cars with different names. That made no sense. Jeep is definitely safe despite their aging Wrangler line and their ridiculously expensive 100K Wagoneers. Fiat safe. Lancia may be safe. Maserati is an expensive hobby. The French brands have too much government and union involvement. Ram is safe, because we Americans love our giant, expensive 3 ton monstrosities that crush sub-compacts in accidents into unrecognizable shapes. I’m not sure why the got rid of the Challenger. It was popular, but aging. Maybe they’ll bring it back as an electric super-car. At any rate, gas car sales peaked in 2017, so figure that into the equation. Only GM, in the domestic group, made money in the 2nd quarter and that won’t last. How many 50K+ cars, trucks and SUVs can you sell before the banks stop lending mega-car loans to the average consumer.
Plymouth has been gone for 23 years…
That doesn’t sound right, I’m gonna go with a decade too. 🙂
“Ram is safe, because we Americans love our giant, expensive 3 ton monstrosities that RAM sub-compacts in accidents into unrecognizable shapes”
FIFY
Can we just move DS, Citroen, and Peugeot into a newly-formed Simca division? From a historical standpoint it would be rather interesting.
Let’s see. DS – no real identity, nobody buys it. Chrysler – great history, but no products to sell. Maserati – were they making any profits in the last 50 years? Leapmotors – say what?
I am biased, currently I drive an Abarth 595 and I love it. But, they are about to stop making the petrol models, the 500e though a great EV it’s not a £34k car. The 600e will be pretty much the same. What this brand needs is cars that ijits like myself want: nimble, fun, small and somewhat affordable. If all they can offer is an overpriced EV they don’t have to be bothered about killing Abarth, it will kill itself
Ram- It should have never been it’s own brand in the first place.
DS – French Chrysler
Lancia- Italian Chrysler
Maserati- Sell it for a couple bucks, and let someone else deal with that stepchild.
Vauxhall- Leftover GM trash.
There’s nothing GM in Vauxhall/Opel anymore, the Insignia was the last to go.
I’m just saying that there wasn’t any value left by the time GM offloaded them to Stellantis.
What’s ironic is Opel/Vauxhall was a losing division when it was owned by GM, yet it’s been a profitable division for Stellantis
Hot take:
Stellantis drops Chrysler, but brings back AMC to sell a bunch of quirky badge-engineered European vehicles here.
That would be awesome…I always joke that I want a new AMC Eagle SX/4 but only if they do it right…it has to look pretty much like the old one or nothing at all/leave it alone as to not desecrate it’s rich history…so basically that; since it’s pretty much guaranteed that they would screw it up just like they do w/ most movie remakes
Love the idea, but would be ironic given what the A in AMC stands for.
Historically, it’s okay if they’re engineered in France as long as they’re built in the Midwest.
Hold on, you can’t just drop a number like that, say “number bad”, and leave it there. What does that mean in real terms? They can’t be selling the cars for .5% of what it costs to make them, which is what I would naturally assume a -99.5% margin means. Is it a change in profit margin? As in it went to essentially zero? I’m left confused and excited, much like if I just read a Torch article about the toe ticklers installed on a select few 1957 Chevys (no, those don’t actually exist as far as I know).
It means that capital expenditures are being amortized and included as per unit costs. Invest $7B in an EV factory and depreciate $1B of that every year for 7 years. That $1B is then counted as a manufacturing cost to build each car (or portion thereof) that comes out of that factory. Make 50,000 cars in that factory and there is a $20,000 expense added to the cost of each car before the costs of the actual parts, labor, and operating expenses (e.g., electric bill for the factory) of the car are even considered. Zero margin means the cost of making a car equals the selling price. A -100% means that the cost of making the car is twice the selling price.
Someone with an actual accounting degree please confirm or correct this.
“Torch’s Toe Ticklers” – sounds like a great name for a punk band.
Explain the difference between brands and model lines when they are all one company.
I have an idea: they should cut Tavares. He seems to only give himself larger bonuses while doing nothing to justify them (even in terms of insane executive bonuses).
Then he would have the time to return to SNL and guest host again.
And to spend more time with his wife…Morgan Fairchild
Yeah, that’s the ticket!
But their executive compensation needs to be competitive to get the best talent!! (Probably what the board says when they sign off on it)
I don’t get the brand-killing excitement.
The end of Plymouth and Oldsmobile did not fix the underlying malaise of DaimlerChrysler or General Motors in the early 2000s. Great, those brands went away. Cost savings? Not really as they were mostly rebadged products. Net effect? Not much.
VW Group has a bunch of European brands; each is catered to a particular national niche. Yes, the lines are blurrier these days, but they retain enough value as to make the nominal cost worth it.
Mostly, my opinion is that products and pricing will be key to success. Make quality stuff people want to buy and price it appropriately. Killing brands is a sideshow to distract from a larger malaise in my opinion.
I still have to kill some brands? Hmmm. Have Stellantis take an ownership stake in McKinsey, BCG, and Bain. Then kill those brands. With my last two bullets, I’m taking down Twitter and Facebook. You’re welcome.
Works for me.
Yes, and I REALLY miss (in no particular order):
Pontiac, Oldsmobile (so much history; like most makes have) Plymouth (favorites are Road Runner, Superbird) and AMC (namely the Eagle SX/4 but most models were at least unique)
DS and Abarth get absorbed by Citroen and Fiat as trim levels, maybe build a DS flagship or concept or an Abarth racing team every once in a while. They’re good publicity of their parent companies.
Sell off Vauxhall/Opel and Maserati. The former are GM brands and have no identity that sets them apart from Peugeot/Citroen/Fiat under the same roof, and Maserati is a mess that needs to be bought by someone willing to flush cash down the toilet to realize a vision. Like most good jokes, Maserati can’t land if they keep trying to make it make sense.
Kill Lancia. They’ve been orphaned for far too long, none of the original engineering (neither the technology nor the team) is present/relevant anymore, and Lancia hasn’t developed a car since the Thesis, and many would argue that wasn’t a real Lancia, either. It’s an animated corpse and I, for one, do not condone necromancy. If there’s any shred of actual Lancia talent left, those people can join the Alfa Romeo/Abarth development team.
Let Chrysler die. Discontinue the Pacifica, or rebadge it as a PHEV-only Dodge Caravan to streamline production and let Chrysler go quietly into that good night.
That trims off 7 brands by my count, to make it 8 and officially more-than-halve the brand count, I think Ram needs to be a model of Dodge, not its own brand.
What I’d do with all the extra resources is split development, meaning each company gets a distinct unibody platform and engine family.
Fiat/Alfa get a platform each, one longitudinal and one transverse with some shared engine architecture but the freedom to develop heads separately, Peugeot/Citroen get one transverse platform and Dodge/Jeep get a new longitudinal platform to replace the aging Mercedes one, while the LeapMotor platform acts as a BEV test-bench that can be badge-engineered as necessary.
That makes 7 surviving brands with at least 5 distinct unibody platforms, plus the always-in-style modular Jeep/Ram BOF. These distinct platforms are vital in giving each brand some identity. They can be joint-developed to share supplier components, but they really need distinct frames and engines if we want people to seriously consider a Peugeot and Fiat as separate things. Stellantis will not survive if they try to sell the same frame with the same engine under 7 different badges.
Lancia is about to introduce the new Ypsilon, based on the small car platform. Miki Biason just tested the rally version, and it’s really cool.
But is it a Lancia, or is it an E-GMP with a tune done by Abarth or Alfa Romeo? If Lancia actually has any remaining engineering that can be applied, I’m happy to welcome it back to life, but if it’s a corporate platform car that could just as well be labeled Peugeot, I think it should be.
From what I read not long ago, Opel/Vauxhall have been moneymakers ever since Stellantis bought these brands from GM. Why would they sell something that makes money?
Agreed otherwise
I’ll defer to you on that, I didn’t research enough about them, which is probably ill-advised as I’ve never lived in a country where either brand exists. Money is money, I reckon they could get away with sharing Opel/Vauxhall platforms with Dodge, as German and American cars have been converging in their function and engineering approach ever since the Chrysler/Daimler times.
I also agree now with what other commenters said, that every country should get to keep at least one brand.
I was surprised by the huge amount of Peugeots and Citroen that I saw in Europe recently, really nice designs. They should start sharing platforms across the regions to keep some brands alive like Chrysler or Dodge. I was hoping Chrysler will be the Buick of Stellantis but that segment is very narrow, you either go with the value brand (Dodge) or step up for a Jeep or Ram.