This might be one of the most unfair Morning Dumps I’ve ever written, and if you are a Stellantis executive allow me to apologize in advance. I was extremely critical of the previous leadership of the company that owns Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram for not respecting the engineering and product-planning expertise of its own American arm. To the credit of the company’s new leadership, this is a trend that’s being reversed.
The Paris Motor Show is usually a sleepy affair, but this year’s show featured a football field-sized display of the European arm’s vehicles and, yeah, I’m a little jealous. Maybe covetous is the right word. Stellantis, I have seen what you have done for other consumers, and I want you to do that for me. Does that include a new Jeep Renegade? Probably. Not that it’s bad for Stellantis to focus on Europe; deliveries were down in North America, though it was apparently planned.
Also, Nissan and Renault are still semi-related, and it would be great if Nissan somehow was the vector by which Alpine came to America given how cool the new A310 concept looks.
Is Stellantis A European Or An American Company?
Stellantis is the strange alliance of a bunch of American brands (CDJR), French brands (PSA), and Italian brands (Fiat, Lancia, Maserati), with a new Chinese JV (Leapmotor) tossed in just to make it interesting. It is the combination-Pizza Hut-Taco Bell of carmakers.
It’s also had an almost historically bad run, as the last CEO used the pandemic to temporarily squeeze profits and suppliers in an attempt to make his company look better for an EV transition that never happened. I argued, back in 2024, that if Stellantis was to save the company it had to, in part, be more American:
In the impending Trump era, it’s clear that there’s going to be an industrial policy here that favors American production. Honestly, even if Harris had been elected, I think this was going to be the case. Rather than fight it, Stellantis needs to embrace it with vehicles and concepts that make the various brands fit within an American portfolio and not a ‘House of Brands’ that also includes Alfa, Fiat, and Maserati.
In fact, Fiat, Alfa, and Maserati have to leave North America. It was a fun experiment and it didn’t work. Oh well.
Wow, I got a lot of things right. Stellantis, to its credit, has gotten more American, hired back some good people, and introduced exciting new products that are extremely ‘murican.
Now let me completely contradict myself.
The 2CV Fourgonnette, the 2CV Concept, and the Fiat Multiplay are all so exciting as concepts I’m sort of thinking they need to come to the United States. Fiat did decently well in the United States when the Fiat 500 first came here, and while it’s sucking wind now, why not turn Fiat dealers into Fiat/Citroën dealers that import cheap, fun, electric cars? Obviously, some crossover between the European and American arms is coming, as Stellantis already teased a lot of vehicles for North America based on European platforms.
The underlying tension between Europe and America may not even be tension at all, as nnew-ish CEO Antonio Filosa told Bloomberg Television:
Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa rejected the notion of separating the group’s European and U.S. brands, saying the company’s strategy is based on all 14 of them “playing their unique role.”
“It is not plausible at all,” Filosa told Bloomberg Television Oct. 12 at the Paris auto show when asked about the idea of separating brands such as Citroen and Fiat from Jeep and Ram. Stellantis develops technologies globally for all its models, including powertrains and computing architecture, and each brand will use that as a base, he added.
Filosa also said that Maserati wasn’t for sale, which is interesting.
The best example of the two sides of the company working together was probably the Jeep Renegade, which was an Italian-made, Fiat-based product that still felt Jeep enough and filled an important niche in the market. Oh, hey, it’s coming back.
Will America Get The New Jeep Renegade?
Here’s an amusing quote from a Stellantis press release from yesterday:
At the Paris Motor Show, Xavier Peugeot, Head of Jeep Brand Europe, outlined the next steps for the brand, combining a strong product plan to expand its European line-up with a vision for the future.
Xavier Peugeot? I wonder how he got that job…
There’s more. The Jeep Renegade will be back by 2030. What else?
Jeep is strengthening its presence across the B-, C- and D-SUV segments, with its European line-up set to grow up to six models by 2030.
The Jeep Avenger has established a strong presence in the B-SUV segment, with nearly 300,000 units sold since launch, while the new Jeep Compass reinforces the brand’s position in the C-SUV segment.
In the D-SUV segment, the Jeep Recon will mark the brand’s return, followed by an additional new model in 2028.
I wonder if this means that the Renegade will be coming back to the United States at some point. The company is being mum on this point.
Stellantis Deliveries Down In Q3, Mostly Because Of North America
Here’s a not-great chart if you’re a Stellantis investor. The company’s consolidated shipments were down 1% globally, dragged down by a big drop in North America.
What’s going on here?
In North America, Q3 shipments declined by approximately 47 thousand units, or 12% year-over-year, primarily due to planned production downtime largely affecting certain Jeep® models, including the Grand Cherokee and Compass, each decreasing by approximately 25 thousand units year-over-year. The decrease in shipments was partially offset by stronger Ram performance, with shipments increasing by approximately 17 thousand units year-over-year, driven by demand for new and refreshed products and expanded powertrain offerings, including the Ram 1500 light-duty HEMI® V8 and the new Ram 1500 TRX.
Well, as long as it was planned.
The Alpine A310 Looks Gooooooood
It’s been 55 years since the Alpine 310 was unveiled, and the company is celebrating with an EV concept that looks pretty great. It’s called the Alpine A310 Vision, and it gets all the proportions just right. How did the company achieve this?
The Alpine Design teams worked from an Alpine A310 positioned at the heart of the studio, as a living reference. Hand-drawn sketches, observation of volumes and analysis of lines: the objective was to capture the essence of a very seventies design — simple, expressive and timeless — and offer a contemporary interpretation of it.
There we go.
Get in the EV, Shinji!
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
I’ll be your morning-bright good-night shadow machineI’ll be your record player, baby, if you know what I meanI’ll be a real tough cookie with the whiskey breathI’ll be a killer and a thriller and the ’cause of our death
-Big Thief, “Paul”
The Big Question
Which Stellantis product do you most want to see here?
Top photo: Stellantis
TBQ: Ram 1500 REV, but only if it doesn’t suck (i.e. have reliability issues like the various 4xe models) and isn’t watered down (i.e. a short electric only range).
I’m not sure what the bloody hold up is. Wasn’t this supposed to be released last year before it was supposed to be released this year before it was supposed to be released next year?
One would hope the delays are to ensure it doesn’t end up like their other attempts at electrification, ie the 4xe, but then again, considering their record…
Waiting for that one, too. Figuring that the EREV Lightning or EREV Super Duty will be out first, though, and would prefer a Ford product over Stellantis anyway.
I’m leaning more towards the “Taco Town” of automakers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evUWersr7pc
Fiat! Now that’s what I call a Jeep!
TBQ: Peugeot 508 wagon. And bring the 308 along as well.
Hot damn, the A310 looks amazing!
TBQ – the Citroen 2CV.
Good pick, and something that’s actually being produced!
Maybe the Stellantis engineering wasn’t on US soil, but the RAM marketing team really leans into domestic messaging at its most cringe. For example:
RAM TRUCKS | IN LOUD WE TRUST | FT. DANA WHITE
TBQ: anything that will give Chrysler something other than the Pacifica. Maybe by the 4th facelift the lineup will expand.
“I was extremely critical of the previous leadership of the company that owns Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram for not respecting the engineering and product-planning expertise of its own American arm.”
Engineering and product planning expertise is exactly what the American auto industry in general has been long trying to rid themselves of in the name of reduced overhead. For CDJR, this didn’t start when Stellantis took over FCA, the big push started well before that, and then Covid really gave things a huge shove further in that direction.
Ford’s whole greybeard thing makes it seem like they finally realized their missteps, but it sounds like that reversal was more limited to production quality; being more of a reactionary thing due to cost of quality rather than being proactive to prevent those issues to begin with. Gotta start somewhere, though.
Man I love the wheels on that A310 concept. Weird but they just work.
Finally, someone praises the appearance of a car that actually deserves it (I get it, we’re pro-car here and the writers in particular can’t shit on everything BMW makes if they ever want another BMW press car, but woof). Although I’m amused by the fact that both ends of the car extend past the “bumpers”, such as they are.
TBQ: I would do terrible things to get my hands on a Multiplay, such as breaking my own vow to never own another Stellantis product.
Yeah, after my Avenger, I’ve been hesitant to buy something from Stellantis/FCA, but if they had something nobody else offered I might go for it anyway. I was seriously considering a phev Pacifica before they kept getting recalled.
“The Big Question:
Which Stellantis product do you most want to see here?”
Something inexpensive with two doors. Maybe an EV, but if it’s ICE, offer a manual transmission.
And have it built at Belvidere Assembly in Illinois.
The Fiat 500 revival story is really fascinating to me. It seems to have made a solid splash here in the US (at least in denser cities) and yet somehow didn’t turn that into ongoing viability? Too many people burned by reliability and not returning for a second time? Mini problem where the whole brand is really built around one car and style that doesn’t scale well (especially to ginormous American tastes)?
Yes.
Stellantis is like the KFC Taco bell Pizza Hut with a the Long John silvers A&W next to it.
I want a wide range of Citroen, and leap motor in the US. I think 2cv and t03 could make it if they were priced right. But I don’t trust Stellantis to price them right. It would probably be the 500e all over again. Citroen knows small vans that could be a big hit for fleets. Fiat should also at least bring in the panda and a truck. If they want to call it a ram 700 and 1200 fine. But small pickup. Maybe badge some as Citroen and Fiat to see how they do.
I’d be interested in the e-Berlingo (and buy an ELO in a heartbeat if they made it), and the Grande Panda EV looks fun. Might be a good competitor for the Venue.
Totally agree they’d likely screw up pricing though and then blame people for not wanting small cars or something.
I’m going to comment in every article with an issue until I get a response from an author.
CAPTIONS?
Not all photos need them, but the topshot, and then especially the first photo after the Stallantis header, I see a yellow/green SUV and a tiny white car. What are they?
Photo credit to Stellantis, so I assume the little one is a Fiat? But that’s only because I know generally what Fiat makes as a brand. Newcomers to car-enthusiasm might know even less and just see two bright/weird cars from some company called “Stellantis”. But they’ve never seen a “Stellantis” dealer in their town, so who knows what these things are?
Why aren’t we using the photos to educate/inform the reader instead of teasing, but not providing, information?
I think they’re listening, even if it wasn’t done on this article. I see The Bishop’s latest post does have captions in addition to the source attribution.
I’m sure they are.
I hope I don’t come across as angry. The authors here do amazing work. But it’s just something that has simmered in the comments, by many people, for a while. I hate reading an article and just being confused by what’s what, and knowing that new-comers would be even more confused.
I left a similar comment on The Bishop’s 10/13 post, and just haven’t had time to look at today’s yet.
EDIT: Today’s The Bishop post was a beautiful use of captions. Really made for a nice read.
I totally agree. On some of the articles about mid-cycle refreshes the changes are so minimal that I’m unsure whether I’m looking at the old or new version. Captions would definitely help.
The green/yellow one is a new Fiat Grande Panda, which means although we can’t see the badge the little white one is a Topolino.
https://www.fiat.co.uk/models/grande-panda-hybrid
https://www.fiat.co.uk/models/new-topolino
What isn’t plausible is stellantis keeping 14 brands afloat and making any money.
The vibes of all these new Stellantis EV concepts are just immaculate, and I think that’s why they’re resonating. The world is a lot right now, people are stressed, everything’s expensive, but these concepts are promising to be cheap and so incredibly cheerful. Normalize whimsy.
I’ll definitely take whimsy over ’70s malaise massive bunker mentality (ahem Jaguar)
The new Jaguar feels like a Cybertruck in a (nice) trenchcoat. All of the paranoia, but none of the weird.
Ha that’s a good a way to put it.
Stellantis needs product.
They’ve spent decades shouting that cylinder count matters, and producing middling product, a different strategy is needed.
Xavier Peugeot? I wonder how he got that job…
Excuse me while I go change my name to “Lee Iaccoca, Jr.” and see if I can move up a few tax brackets.
The Fourgonnette gets my vote. I’d buy that in a heartbeat.
I’d be interested in a wagon version with rear windows and bench.
All 6 of those concepts in Paris are <<fire emoji>> but which one for USA? The DS F3ver first, the 2CV second, and the Pug RCV would be my choices; Honorable Mention to the Renault E-Space, also (which prob makes the most sense for US).
The E-Space looks solid and other than the concept car interior, pretty easy to actually produce. I really like the Multiplay, but agree with comments that the roof thing is cool, but probably a pain IRL.
That A310 looks fantastic from the profile but what’s with new cars not having rear windows? Is it really that big of an engineering challenge to keep some glass back there?
yep that ruins it for me. i’ve driven a car with a camera-based rearview mirror, and it’s kind of unsettling.
If you told me the Alpine is a new Hyundai concept, I’d believe it.
Fiat Panda
I feel like that would be the biggest no brainer to get people into Fiat dealers.
Give me a Citroen Ami.
Not because I’d want to drive one, but I think they’re kinda funny.
That video of one losing it at the Monaco hairpin always gets me.
The Topolino is coming, at least.
Still waiting on the Ram Charger….sigh
Agreed. Where’s my goddamn EREV.
Or, for that matter the Ramcharger, which Mexico got for a number of years after it disappeared here.
Fiat Panda. I don’t know how well it would do here but it would be a unique offering
I think it would do well if priced anywhere decently. It’s way more practical than the 500e, but still somewhat whimsical. I’d seriously like at one. The 500e has too many caveats at its price, IMO.