Stellantis immediately became one of the world’s biggest carmakers when it was founded in January 2021, being born out of the merger between Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles and the France-based PSA Group.
Its formation brought more than a dozen brands under the same roof, with Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Citroen, Dodge, DS, Fiat, Jeep, Lancia, Maserati, Opel, Peugeot, Ram and Vauxhall becoming a part of a mega-family.
Since its inception, Stellantis was headed by Carlos Tavares, a former Renault executive who had been in charge of PSA prior to the merger, and brought Opel and Vauxhall under its control from General Motors.
Initially, things looked good, with a strong focus on future EV plans and investments in future technology, but tensions soon began to rise, especially in North America where numerous decisions were criticised by customers and even dealers.
Tavares was single-handedly blamed for the death of the Hemi V8 engine which powered the Dodge Challenger and Charger plus the Ram 1500, while Stellantis was accused of not focusing enough on the North American market, traditionally its strongest region.
Ahead of his contract running out at the end of 2024, Tavares resigned early from his post, with former North and South American chief Antonio Filosa named as his eventual successor, who has since led Stellantis to change tact on a number of decisions.
However, as reported by Bloomberg, Tavares has outlined his fears for his former company in a new book, detailing the potential division between Stellantis’ many factions.
“I am worried that the three-way balance between Italy, France and the US will break,” Tavares said in the new book.
“With me gone, I am not sure that the French interests that I always had at heart – whether you believe it or not – will be as well defended.
“One possible scenario, and there are many others, could be a Chinese manufacturer one day making a bid for the Europe business with the Americans taking back the North America operations.”
The latter point has previously been brought up, with one of the great-grandchildren of Walter P. Chrysler – Frank B. Rhodes Jr. – last year pitching to prospective investors to bring the US-based brands back under local control.
It’s worth noting that Stellantis also now has a joint venture with Chinese carmaker Leapmotor – titled Leapmotor International.
In Australia, Stellantis’ local division only sells vehicles from the Abarth, Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Jeep brands. Maserati and Ram are distributed by Ateco, while Peugeot is handled by Inchcape, which last year closed down Citroen amid dismal sales.
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