Stellantis has announced that it is consolidating U.S. business centers from 9 to 6, laying off 30 people, to “strengthen its dealer support,” according to Reuters. The layoffs may or may not have been connected to the consolidation. Stellantis told Reuters that they were not driven by a need to cut staff.
The company claimed that consolidating the business centers was needed to “enhance dealer coverage, strengthen partnerships, and response more effectively to dealer inquiries” without actually saying how this would happen. The move may have been sparked by March 1’s change in the leadership of U.S. sales, with Jason Stoicevich running retail sales and Jeff Kommor heading commercial sales. The company reorganized its European dealer networks in August-September 2023.
Layoff rationales cited by Stellantis include uncertainties, competition, the union, and battery-electric vehicles, but not such items as delivering on promised “synergies,” executive bonus packages, or buying shares in a Chinese automaker or a VTOL maker.
Stellantis’ U.S. dealerships are often rated dead last in surveys of customers, but dealership people have complained about lack of support and increasingly harsh demands from the company for warranty approvals.
