It’s been a rough few years for customers of the various Stellantis brands, and I’m not certain that’s going to improve in the foreseeable future. It’s also been a tough time for dealers and workers, who can expect its absurdly high “days on lot” figures to drop as Stellantis execs cut production and unfortunately lay off workers.
The big talk of the day is how Stellantis is cutting back, but this was inevitable to some degree as the company tries to fix its inventory issues. For workers, it’s bad news. For weary consumers, this might be a bit of good news as we could be reaching a key point in time where incentives and inventory are simultaneously high. Eventually, one of those has to give.
And, eventually, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares has to go. It wouldn’t be a Morning Dump if at least one of our stories didn’t have our favorite exec show up, right? The plan was to let Tavares run out his contract and depart in early 2026. Rumor has it that Tavares might be getting pushed out of the plane before it lands (metaphorically speaking), but at least it’ll come with the mother of all golden parachutes.
The grass is always greener on the other side, they say, but in the case of Stellantis v. Volkswagen that might be a little hopeful. Perhaps it’s better to say that the grass is a little less on fire on the other side. VW’s Q3 financials are bad. Real bad. Revenue wasn’t a complete miss but margins were in the toilet.
Sometimes low expectations are helpful. Sometimes it’s nice for the bar to be on the ground. Aston Martin also released its financials, and they’re better than people thought, which is to say they lost less money than analysts predicted.
Take The Money And Run
It’s time again for my favorite chart, via Cox Automotive/vAuto, which shows how many days worth of cars different dealers have on the lot. A healthy number is 60 days, the average is 68 days, and earlier this year every Stellantis brand was way, way above average. Ram has been so bad that Ram isn’t even on the chart.
There are two main variables that give you the number of selling days: supply and demand. If you’ve got a ton of cars but they’re selling super fast then it’ll stay low. For the last year, Stellantis has seemed intent on making these worse for its Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram dealers by both building a ton of uncompetitive cars and then refusing to give reasonable discounts on them even as much of the competition started dumping cash on the hood.
Dealers flipped out and now Stellantis is trying to address both problems simultaneously. First, Stellantis told its dealers it’ll provide more money to help move cars and, indeed, the company reportedly just added a bunch of cash for “conquest” buyers who want certain Dodge, Jeep, or Ram products. Specifically, Stellantis is targeting Ford buyers who come over to get a Durango, Wrangler, Grand Wagoneer/Wagoneer, Grand Cherokee, or Ram 1500 with an extra $2,000.
Incentives are always good for buyers, and they’d last forever if Stellantis kept pumping out vehicles. Understandably, that’s not going to happen according to The Detroit News:
Stellantis NV continued to slash vehicle production and cut jobs in the United States this week, including at the automaker’s Detroit Assembly Complex where the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango SUVs are built.
Vehicle production at both the Mack and Jefferson sides of the east-side complex is paused this week, with workers temporarily laid off. Notices sent to workers said certain positions were still expected to report. Mack builds the Grand Cherokee, while Jefferson makes both the Grand Cherokee and Durango.
“Stellantis continues to take the necessary actions to align production with sales,” said a company statement sent by spokesperson Ann Marie Fortunate. “This includes making production adjustments at both Detroit Assembly Complex plants. The Company will continue to monitor the situation to assess whether further action is required.”
This follows other recent cutbacks. Hell, Chrysler only makes the Pacifica now, having ended 300 production. Obviously, this is a shame for workers at these facilities, even if the recent UAW contract helps preserve some of their income.
If you’re a consumer and you’ve been turned off by high prices and you’re interested in something from one of the traditional Chrysler brands then now might be the best time to act. Incentives are high as Stellantis wants to calm down dealers and the company is also rightsizing production, so there may be fewer cars on dealer lots eventually (these changes will take weeks to filter through the system).
Is Carlos Tavares Getting An Early Exit?
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares, pictured above, managed to survive a recent executive shakeup, albeit with the stated intention that he’d have to retire in a little over a year. This after rumors that Stellantis NV Chairman John Elkann was already looking for a replacement. Tavares was supposed to make it until 2026, but rumor has it that he might finally get to finish Finnegans Wake next year as he’ll be granted an early release from the company.
This rumor comes from the Italian news site Affaritaliani.it and it’s a whopper:
That Carlos Tavares is ready to hang up his CEO boots and leave the reins of Stellantis in 2026 is now known to everyone. The aim is to choose the new leader already in the first half of 2025, to ensure a smooth handover, whether it is internal or external. Yet voices very close to the world of the old Fiat tell Affaritaliani.it that Tavares could leave by the end of the year, with a mind-blowing severance package (the figure could even reach 100 million euros). And not only that. An “extra” severance package with shares or a stake in a premium brand of the group is also reportedly being evaluated. In short, a noteworthy exit strategy and in line with the salary that the Portuguese manager has pocketed up to now (23.5 million in 2023, ed.)
But it doesn’t end there. There are also rumors that the owner , John Elkann, is pushing to have Carlos Tavares leave Stellantis earlier than expected, on the advice of his lawyers, in light of a possible trial related to money laundering, offshore accounts and tax evasion in which the brothers Lapo and Ginevra would also be involved, after the investigation opened by their mother, Margherita Agnelli. A significant shake-up that could tamper not only with the leadership of the group, but also with the “delicate” family safe, Dicembre.
Sure. Honestly, if I were Tavares I’d love this rumor. What’s better than not having to be CEO of Stellantis anymore? Getting paid $100 million to not do the job (the Euro and USD are close enough). I’ve also heard a rumor that I’m being demoted to Assistant Publisher and being given $100 million as a bonus.
Who would replace Tavares? People seem to think Renault’s Luca De Meo.
Volkswagen Is, Eh, It’s Not Great
Not that I want to focus on bad news, but I’ve already said this week that it looked like Volkswagen might try something drastic to reverse its plunge, and it seems like this quarter’s financials might be decent pretext.
Revenues hit $85 billion, which is up a little from last year, but operating profit fell 42% compared to Q3 2023 to just $3.1 billion, which is an operating margin of 3.6%. That’s real bad and worse than expected. The chart above shows what the first nine months look like for the company and it’s dire.
From VW’s CFO Arno Antlitz:
Our nine-month results reflect a challenging market environment and underline the importance of delivering on the performance programmes we have launched across the Group. Volkswagen Brand reported an operating margin of only two per cent after nine months. This highlights the urgent need for significant cost reductions and efficiency gains.
Our product momentum gives us confidence. A significantly improved order intake in Western Europe in Q3 year-on-year is testament to our strengthened product line-up, from combustion engine cars to hybrids and full-electric vehicles.
Excuse me, from what-to-what? Oh, right, VW is finally doing hybrids.
This is a bad look, and the only two groups making any sort of decent margin are the Sport Luxury brand group (Porsche, Lamborghini, Porsche Financial Services) and its TRATON Commercial Vehicles group. There is the Rivian investment to consider. Also, if you want to get conspiratorial, it would probably be better at this point for Volkswagen to make its numbers as terrible as possible if only as an excuse to take drastic action.
Aston Martin Is Not Doing As Poorly As You’d Have Guessed
If you’re a Fernando Alonso fan you might have some mixed feelings about Aston Martin. The same might be true if you’re an investor. Don’t worry! Alonso is retiring and things might not be as bad as they once seemed for people with a financial stake in the company.
After hinting at a rough year due to sales in China and supply chain disruptions, the company released its Q3 numbers and, though not exactly rosy, they aren’t grim either. The company only lost about $16 million pre-tax in Q3, an improvement of 90% over last year.
This is better than expected and the company belives things might turn around a bit:
Following the successful launch of the new Vantage and DBX707, with deliveries commencing as planned at the end of Q2 2024, performance in Q4 2024 will benefit from all next generation core models available in market including initial deliveries of the V12 flagship Vanquish. In addition, Valiant, the ultraexclusive Special, remains on track with the majority of deliveries expected by year end, concluding the current programme of Specials.
Good for them.
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
Oh man. When Scottish band Garbage came out I was both a little scared and, because I was a 12-year-old boy, very excited when the video for “I’m Only Happy When It Rains” came on MTV so I could see Shirley Manson glower at me from a partially demo’d bathroom. Rewatching this video again I still get it.
The Big Question
What would Shirley Manson drive in 1995, when the self-titled Garbage album debuted? What would YOU drive if you had to buy a new car in 1995?
1995 me would have picked something pretty boring with 4 doors, but me going back and getting a 1995 car new? Maybe a Toyota MR2 Mk2.
Leave one outside for a while and it will get cheaper.
I have no reason to second guess what I bought new in 1995, which was a Jeep Grand Cherokee. I wound up having two of them, a ’95 Laredo and a ’98 Limited, and have nothing but fond memories.
I like to imagine Shirley Manson would be arriving in a supercharged Jaguar XJR back in 1995. It’s slinky, low, and sinister, but still classy. Perfect. (I, too, am in the dead-center of the demographic to have had a monster crush on Shirley Manson back in the day).
Seems few people will miss Mr Pictured Above, but I will as the week is somehow not complete without those words
Well Shirley if you’re only happy when it rains Scotland is your Disneyland.
1995, would have to get me a Toyota Supra turbo, red with the wing please.
Or a 1996 Impala SS, black with illegal black tint. Maybe a BMW 750iL, all black if somebody else is writing the check.
My inner Cleetus though would really want a 1996 Chevy Z71, RCSB, red lots of chrome, lifted with KC Daylighters on one of them roll hoops. First year for the Vortec 350, which had 60 more hp than the 1995 trucks.
As for Carlos Tavarse, really wish I could fail at my job, get tens of thousands of my workers laid off due to my incompetence, and make $100 million. F that guy
I’d continue driving the 95 Volvo 850 Estate I was driving then. IMO Stellantis is toast. Not sure what is to be done with the carcass. VW can go the same way IMO. Maybe combine the two of them, drag the crap out behind the barn and shoot it, and continue with the rest…. wait, there would be nothing left. Too bad.
I’m seriously considering getting a Pacifica PHEV–someone talk me off this ledge. Right now I drive a 2012 RAV4, with only 70K miles on it, so I certainly don’t need a new car, but I would really love a PHEV and I’ve seen some really nice hybrid Pacificas listed at like $36K. And I think that’s BEFORE the tax credit (could be wrong about that though). What’s a bro who loves PHEVs and sweet deals to do?
I’m going to do the opposite. We love our Pacifica PHEV (2018). It is far from the world’s most reliable vehicle, but the problems don’t cost you anything because of the warranty. It’s an absolutely legendary group transport vehicle. Any time somebody new gets in it they are shocked how nice and comfortable it is.
I keep looking at the regular Pacifica. We’d like stow n go seats and AWD. Toyota and Honda can’t give me that. They are certainly cheaper than Toyota and Honda too, although not “cheap”. I’ve thought about buying one and just getting a long ass factory extended warranty and rolling the dice.
There are a couple people here, besides PlugInPA who already replied, who have praised the Pacifica I think.
Of course this site has also recently had two features on common failures of the Pentastar V6, so who knows.
I keep up with the Pacifica forums and while PHEV owners have encountered a more than desirable number of new-tech PHEV specific errors (hint: keep a bottle of coolant in the car if you have to get any part of the battery coolant loop, including the battery, replaced), nobody has had their engine fail that I have seen. The hybrid of course gets a lot fewer engine hours and the engine is rarely pushed anywhere near its limit, so that may be why.
If I had to buy a brand new car in 1995 I would have been walking or taking the bus. ’95 was about the poorest I ever was after I got out on my own. Almost anything would have been a huge step up from the Geo Metro I owned then.
Garbage is an American band with a Scottish singer. The band was started by music producer Butch Vig, from Wisconsin.
Butch Vig who famously produced Nirvana’s Nevermind.
He also produced Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth, Soul Asylum, Jimmy Eat World, Killdozer, Greenday, Foo Fighters among others and drummed for Garbage.
Dodge Ram Cummins 12v 4WD 5MT
I wanted to go with the 993 Turbo, but BOF vehicles with good ground clearance are my thing, and the opportunity to buy a new 12 valve would be too good to pass up. Would drive it into the ground.
If it was 97 instead I would have went with the S-10 EV
had a ’96 12v 4×4 5MT ext cab 8′ bed. Wish I still had it.
Regarding Stellantis… they still haven’t done one thing they need to do… lower the sky-high MSRPs that were jacked up to ridiculous levels during the pandemic shortage.
“Who would replace Tavares? People seem to think Renault’s Luca De Meo.”
I would prefer if he was replaced by someone from the old Chrysler management org.
These Europeans don’t know that to do with the North American operations… which are the most profitable part of the corporate mess that is Stellantis.
“What would YOU drive if you had to buy a new car in 1995?”
Assuming I have the needs of today, it would have to be a practical, reliable daily driver in hatchback, wagon or small van form.
So the contenders would be (with US MSRPs):
-Ford Escort wagon MSRP: $12775
-Toyota Corolla wagon MSRP: $16527
-Eagle Summit DL Wagon: MSRP $15599
-Mitsu Expo LRV: $17894
-Honda Accord LX Wagon: $19840
-Saturn SW2 wagon: $13960
-Nissan Axxess – no US MSRP… wasn’t sold in the US in 1995… but WAS sold in Canada.
And of these, I’d probably go with the Saturn SW2 wagon. It had a manual with a DOHC 16V engine and dent-resistant plastic body panels
And I recall them being durable and reliable.
Note that there were other options that meet my criteria from Saab, Volvo and Audi… but they were all over $12,000 more compared to the Saturn SW2
The other day I looked at all the major manufacturer website and I’ll admit that if I was in the market for a vehicle I would have discarded Stellantis right then. The MSRPs are all at least $2,000 higher than the competitor’s competing vehicle. If you don’t know they have incentives, the prices are crazy talk.
“I would prefer if he was replaced by someone from the old Chrysler management org”
Here’s an idea: Dig up Lee Iacocca and plop his corpse in the big chair. He can’t do any worse and has no need of a $1 golden parachute package much less $100m.
Trust me, no one from the old chrysler management team has the right stuff to lead the company out of the quagmire it’s in right now. In fact, they are the ones who laid the ground work for all of the problems the company is having now. If reinstated, they would simply lean heavily into the same strategy they always have, i.e. the brotherhood of muscle type bullshit of making cars that increasingly have no place in the 21st century until you end up like Harley on the brink of irrelevancy. Yes the numbers will be healthy in the very near term, but stars always burn brightest before they implode.
That’s exactly what Tavares did, milked their geriatric platforms even longer with no new product development, no meaningful generational improvements or future-proofing their lineup with electrification.
..and it worked exactly as predicted, their numbers went up and up, until the current-day implosion.
The ‘North American operations’ aka RAM & Jeep don’t need much to keep chugging along other than aligning their price with the rest of the market, no genius needed. OTOH I’m pretty sure some ‘murican exec wouldn’t know what to do with Stellantis’ rest-of-the-world operations.
Maybe put Henrik Fisker in charge and start selling tickets to the shitshow and invest in popcorn stocks, I heard he’s not busy these days 😀
I don’t know how long it will be but they don’t have a viable product in the space that CRV and RAV4 are absolutely eating.
Yes what they have are overpriced but the fact of the matter is they missed the mark completely on segments.
Jeep currently has no midsized CUV with 30ish gas mpg and Ram has no compact pickup. Both of which are high volume categories right now.
The conspiracy theory that just popped into my head:
What if the goal was to crash a company as quickly as possible while meeting contractual obligations to force them to fire him early so he could get the most money in the least amount of time via severance package?
That ‘strategy’ is probably taught in MBA school during the final semester
For it to be a conspiracy, it would have to involve two or more people conspiring together.
And to do a lousy job, he didn’t/doesn’t need to conspire with anyone. I think he was able to do that all on his own!
1995 Toyota Celica All-Trac
New cars in 1995? If I was where I am in life today? Pretty easy – Saab 9000 Aero. Mercedes-Benz 320TE. Land Rover Disco I (I actually have a 1995 Disco I currently). BMW 530i. Last of the Alfa 164s. And on, and on, and on. I’d have been doing six-month leases to try them all.
Though I was still a poor in 1995. My daily driver was an ’87 Volvo 740GLE, and I had a beat to crap ’82 Volvo 245T that I was trying to get functional enough to drive. Gave up on that thing in ’96 and bought a ’91 245 and my Triumph Spitfire that I still have to this day.
Hey VW, here’s a thought. Make a car I want to buy, and I will buy one from you. I’ve bought two brandy-new VWs in the past, and loved both of them. But today, they got NOTHING.
Easy-peasy really – long-roof GTI with actual buttons and gauges, not capacitive touch nonsense and screens, screens, screens. And make it not look derpy while you are at it (though with a decent interior and user interface, I could tolerate the MK8 GTI.
I like my GLI. It’s pretty much the last of its kind. A (relatively) affordable sporty sedan with a manual transmission.
They are lovely, my best friend has one. And I owned ’84 and ’90 GLIs back in the day. But a sedan doesn’t work for my automotive use case – and it has the idiotic screens, screens, screens interior at this point that I hate. I had a ’17 GTI Sport that I deeply regret selling, but even that was too short for some of my hobbies. My current MB E350 wagon is a bit bigger than I need, but better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. I also have an e91 3-series wagon that is about the perfect size, but that lives at my summer home. So few choices of properly driving wagons that aren’t stupid money today.
My first car was a ’95 Camry, so I’d go for that. The big question is what Camry I would end up with. 2 door coupe, 4 door sedan, or 5 door wagon with double rear wipers? Manual or automatic? I4 or V6? LE with cloth seats, or XLE with leather, CD player, alloy wheels, and a sun roof? I miss it when cars actually had options.
Discounts off overpriced vehicles does not mean they are suddenly a good deal. My WAG without any data to back it up is that the additional discounts Stellantis is providing will only get the prices down into the range where MSRP should have been in the first place. Unless the new CEO (not pictured above) magically makes their vehicles worth what they’re asking I’d still say wait if you’re in the market for a Stellantis. Although as someone who can’t keep an FCA vehicle on the road for the past three months because stuff keeps breaking, I’d probably advocate for buying from someone else, period.
The only thing that’s keeping me from a Wrangler with 0% for 72 months is the fact that they don’t offer it in orange this year.
There’s a listing for a new 2023 GT plus by me that somehow already has 4k miles. It is currently listed for 29k, like 10k off MSRP, and the kicker is the description starts with “Looking for a new car at an affordable price? This Dodge won’t be on the lot long!”
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicle/723519567?city=Long%20Island%20City&listingType=NEW&makeCode=DODGE&maxPrice=30000&modelCode=DODHORNET&newSearch=false&referrer=%2Fcars-for-sale%2Fnew-cars%2Fdodge%2Fhornet%2Flong-island-city-ny%3FnewSearch%3Dtrue&state=NY&clickType=listing
Toyota MR2. Cause I missed out the first time.
And to the classifieds we go.
And Carlos deserves every lira he can weasel before he departs.
Morgan Fairchild is one expensive divorce.
And to take over the Stellantis shit show? Eddie Lampert.
Everything would be gone, asset wise in a month.
Perhaps Don Jr?
You and your damn questions Matt!
Looks like Bob Nardelli is still around. He already ran Chrysler once!
“Don’t worry! Alonso is retiring…” -MH
I’m not sure where you get your information, but this weekend in Mexico he said he was planning to see out his current two year contract and see what things look like in ’26 before making a decision.
He retired from the race, maybe that’s where the confusion is?
Oh, right, I didn’t think about that. MH might be referencing lap 15. Good thinking.
You underestimate Stellantis’ ability to make even shittier cars in the future.
Unless you think it has no future.
And even then, the cars STILL not selling now will be even cheaper in the future.
Car shopping in 1995. Fantasy land – I’ll take a NSX and daily drive it for the next 30 years. But a 993 911 would be tempting too. More reasonable choices than the Ferrari 355 or 456 which were also awesome.
In the more “realistic” price range? MR-2 Turbo or Prelude Si.
A quick check of Pacifica prices doesn’t show a better deal than last time I checked about a month ago. If anything I am seeing fewer cars with $10k+ on the hood like last time. Not sure how cheap they’d have to get for me to roll the dice on a Pacifica AWD plus Mopar warranty.