Milan (Reuters) – While John Elkann, president of Stellantis, talks about candidates for the post of managing director, one of the main priorities is to determine which of the 14 brands of the car manufacturer are viable in the future.

The vast portfolio of Stellantis, inherited from the merger of Fiat-Chrysler and PSA, owner of Peugeot, in 2021, is the most important in the sector, with its 14 brands, while most competitors in the Franco-Italian group are concentrated on one or two.

Reducing this portfolio could simplify operations and allow consolidation of marketing, development and sales functions. However, each brand, from Jeep, Ram and Peugeot to DS, Lancia and Alfa Romeo, to its aficionados, which complicates the choice of brands to be preserved.

In Europe, where Stellantis is the second car manufacturer after Volkswagen, its best -selling brand, Peugeot, held a market share of only 4.9% last year, in eighth position in the ranking.

The notoriety deficit of the Stellantis appellation, which does not benefit from the anchoring of Volkswagen or Toyota, is another handicap for the manufacturer.

An informed source of John Elkann’s reflections told Reuters that the subject was a priority and that any candidate for the post of Managing Director having no vision on brands would not be “the right choice”.

Former leader Carlos Tavares often said that traditional car manufacturers were confronted with a “Darwinian era” where the weakest fails would fail, while emphasizing that all brands of Stellantis had a future.

After Carlos Tavares resigned from his duties in December, John Elkann hastened to restore the confidence of investors, affected by the collapse of sales and beneficiary margins on the American market, traditionally the most profitable, with Jeep, Ram , Chrysler and Dodge.

The new managing director must “be ready to make strong decisions,” said Fabio Caldato portfolio manager at Acomea Sgr, who has participation in Stellantis.

“If I do not think with my heart, but as an investor, I would see as very positive the fact that the new managing director is determined to review the marks portfolio,” he added.

Analysts consider high -end brands Alfa Romeo, DS and Lancia as vulnerable to a removal of the portfolio. Dodge and Chrysler, despite less bright performance, are deemed more sustainable, as they benefit from recognition from American drivers and attract specific market segments.

Stellantis had told Reuters in early February that each brand worked on projects and that recent changes in the organization of the group aimed to support them.

“Stellantis strives to offer even more choice to its customers, based on deep history and the strong identities of its 14 brands,” said the company.

“Magic wand”

According to a source in Stellantis, portfolio problems were known internally, but the popularity of individual brands in certain countries or special segments meant that it was not easy to determine which should be deleted.

Jeep and Ram are the best-selling brands by Stellantis in the United States, while Chrysler, which is now limited to the Pacificica minivan, and Dodge sold less than 150,000 units each in the country last year. The Dodge range has reduced to a muscular car, load it, as well as a sporting crossover and a SUV.

According to Reuters calculations, Jeep represented at least 15% of the world sales of Stellantis in 2024, and Chrysler and Dodge approximately 3%.

“If I had a magic wand (…) I would probably say that Jeep should absorb Chrysler and Ram should absorb Dodge,” said Erin Keating of the Cox Automotive design firm.

“But you do not save a lot of money,” she added, because the four brands each have their own image, complement each other in terms of range and share the same dealers.

Stellantis was fifth on the American market in terms of sales in 2024, with a share of 8.1%, losing fourth place for the benefit of Honda after the price increases cost him customers, which led to the Warning on the benefits that precipitated the departure of Carlos Tavares. Jeep ranked 11th with a market share slightly less than 4%.

According to Erin Keating, the company must now align its prices on what customers are ready to pay, an opinion shared by American dealers.

“Let’s find a way to restore these emblematic brands,” said David Kelleher, owner of a Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram car dealer located in the suburbs of Philadelphia.

The European challenge

Europe, where Stellantis, which is slow to run away, is faced with strict rules on carbon emissions and increased Chinese competition, could constitute a more important challenge.

“It would be a problem if Stellantis closed brands,” said Tony Fassina, owner of a dealership selling Fiat and Alfa Romeo in Milan.

“It would certainly be a drop in sales.”

According to Marco Santino of the consulting firm Oliver Wyman, the brands of Stellantis, such as Peugeot and Opel, compete in the mass market segment in Europe, while Stellantis is struggling to win the high -end market.

European brands Alfa Romeo, Lancia and DS will each hold only 0.3% of the regional market in 2024, far behind Audi and BMW. For comparison, Peugeot represented a fifth of the group’s world sales.

Alfa could evolve towards a niche sports brand as the customers of its cars aged, suggested Marco Santino. Any major repositioning aimed at relaunching the high -end brand “must be done (…) from zero”.

Stellantis plans to launch around twenty new models or updated between the end of 2024 and 2025, mainly electric vehicles (VE) and hybrids, including the Citroën C3, which should be the most affordable FI in Europe.

His joint venture with Leapmotor, sometimes described as the fifteenth brand of Stellantis, which allows him to sell, import and manufacture the models of Leapmotor VE outside China, could give new impetus to electrification.

Fiat, the best -selling brand of Stellantis on a global scale, remains popular in emerging markets such as Brazil or Turkey, as well as in the European city car segment with the 500 model. It could focus on affordable models, While another brand could focus on electric vehicles, according to Marco Santino.

“The markets evolve quickly and in a less predictable way than we thought,” he added. “Maybe not yet, but in a few years, the weather will have come for Stellantis to close certain brands.”

(Giulio Piovaccari report, with the contribution of Nora Eckert and Kalea Hall in Detroit, Alessandro Parodi in Gdansk, Elena Smirnova, edited by Augustin Turpin)

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