Why were you considering another Wrangler? They don’t have a good reputation for reliability.
In 2023, you engineered a record year of profitability for Stellantis, earning you the title of the highest-compensated automotive CEO. You personally earned a record amount of almost forty million dollars that year. Unfortunately, the engineering and structuring of that year have led us to exactly where we told your executives we would be today.
The reckless short-term decision-making to secure record profits in 2023 has had devastating, yet entirely predictable, consequences in the US market. Those consequences include the rapid degradation of our iconic American brands - brands like Jeep, Dodge, Ram, and Chrysler that have over a century of history in America. The market share of your brands has been slashed nearly in half, Stellantis stock price is tumbling, plants are closing, layoffs are rampant, and key executives fleeing the company. Investor lawsuits, supplier lawsuits, strikes - the fallout is mounting. Your own distribution network, your dealer body, has been left in an anemic and diminished state.
Unfortunately, these are just the consequences we feel today. The drastic market share downturn will have a long lingering painful fiscal impact on your parts manufacturing business for many years to come. The pain will not be confined to the company and its investors. Your dealer network, their employees, your suppliers, and most of all, your own workforce - everyone will suffer the consequences of these disastrous choices.
The bill has come due for the decisions that you made to engineer those profits in 2023, and your attempt at a soft landing on the backs of your employees, your dealers, and your suppliers is frankly just wrong. We did not create this problem, the federal government did not create this problem, the UAW did not create this problem, and your employees did not create this problem - you created this problem.
In December 2024, the CEO of Stellantis was fired. This was spun as "unexpectedly resigned" due to "increasingly divergent views" with the board of directors.[2]
It's really bad. Customers, employees, investors, directors, and dealers have all had it. The only remaining Chrysler-branded vehicle is a mini-van. Stellantis is down to sixth place in US vehicle sales, below Honda and Kia. It's the worst disaster in US automotive history since American Motors and Studebaker went down.
[1] https://s3-prod.autonews.com/2024-09/Dealer%20letter%20to%20...
[2] https://www.cnbc.com/2024/12/01/stellantis-ceo-carlos-tavare...