While Stellantis tallies, GM announces higher EV and retail sales, lower fleets

GM sales

GM announced a small downturn in overall USA sales, selling 659,601 vehicles in the United States for the third quarter of 2024. That’s down 2% from the same quarter in 2023, but retail sales were up by 3%, meaning that the decline was entirely in fleet sales. The company sold 32,195 battery-electrics during the quarter … Read more

Jeep finally admits Gladiator prices were too high, but drops stick and roll-up windows

Gladiator at 2024 Camp Jeep at New York Auto Show

After dropping the price of the Compass and Wrangler, Jeep has turned to the 2025 Jeep Gladiator, which will start at $39,995. The manual transmission appears to be gone, with a standard eight-speed automatic. Every model has been “price repositioned.” The only open-air pickup truck, the Gladiator has best in class V6 towing and payload … Read more

Stellantis fires back at its dealers

dealership

Yesterday, Stellantis national dealer council president Kevin Farrish accused Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares of short-term decision making which lowered the value of Dodge, Ram, Jeep, and presumably Chrysler. The company dramatically raised prices during the post-COVID car shortages, and is only now slowly dropping prices on some models, such as the Compass, as sales have … Read more

Mopar dealers blaming CEO for slowing sales (updated)

service advisor dealer cartoon

American dealer network leaders have publicly taken Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares to task for “short-term decision making” which they claim that, by boosting the company’s stock price, increased his own compensation. The company had dramatically raised prices during the post-COVID car shortages, only to find customers defecting to other brands and dealership stock cluttering up … Read more

STLA’s former Fiat brands losing market share in EU

STLA Medium

The two sales leaders in Europe, Volkswagen and Stellantis, both lost market share in July; Volkswagen fell from 27.6 to 26.6%, and Stellantis from 15.7% to 14.9%. The third largest seller in Europe, Renault, stayed stable with a 9.4% share. The top American brand, Ford, had a 3.2% share, coming in after Hyundai, Toyota, BMW, … Read more

Stellantis putting more cost savings into pleasing shareholders

stock after buyback

Stellantis has been slashing costs in Italy, France, and the United States, ostensibly to prepare for economic downturns and the arrival of inexpensive Chinese cars around the world. The company also bought a fifth of one Chinese company, Leapmotor, to rush its inexpensive Chinese cars into Europe, where it will compete with Peugeot, Citroën, Opel, … Read more

GM announces US sales gain; STLA timing

Chevy Blazer police car

For the second quarter, General Motors (GM) sold 696,086 vehicles in the United States, up 0.6%; in the first half of the year, they sold 1,290,319 vehicles, down 0.4%. Sales could be called “flat,” with quality gains countered by a delay in producing electric cars due to a slower-than-expected robotics supplier at the battery plant. … Read more

Stellantis Investor Day focusing on software

Stellantis financials - earnings - dollars

Stellantis has begun its first Investor Day, focusing on software, which can yield profits throughout the ownership of a vehicle. The company said that global software revenue had already grown to 2.5 times its prior figure within three years; nearly 14 million vehicles can be monetized. In 2023, the company topped five million users of … Read more

STLA reports gains in EU

Stellantis infographic

Stellantis has reported gains in Europe (EU29) for the first four months of 2024, claiming a market share of 18.8%. The company does especially well in France, unsurprisingly, and in commercial vans, which has a market share of “nearly 30%” after a sales increase of 11%. Jeep, Peugeot, and Vauxhall have grown in the UK. … Read more