Stellantis spans 14 brands and some of them may die, Tesla is supplying a China-made Model Y, and seniors too. All that and more in it The morning shift before January 19, 2021.
1st Gear: Some Stellantis brands seem likely to die
Stellantis, that is what the fusion of Fiat Chrysler and Groupe PSA has called itself, contains 14 different brands. Let’s roll them up: Fiat, Chrysler, Peugeot, Opel, Jeep, Maserati, Dodge, Ram, Citroën, DS, Alfa Romeo, Vauxhall, Abarth and Lancia.
You forgot Opel and DS, I know. It’s okay, this is a safe space, you can admit it. Either way, that’s a lot of brands! Probably one or some of them will die in the US, according to Automotive News. Two of the most vulnerable brands appear to be Fiat and Chrysler:
The highlights of the post-merger blueprint in North America are no secret: producing as many Ram pickups as possible and pushing Jeep to higher price points and new segments.
But Stellantis executives will have to figure out how the rest of FCA’s extensive brand list fits into the long-term puzzle and whether cuts need to be made.
Chrysler is dealing with two nameplates from the minivan and the aging 300 sedan. Alfa Romeo is seeing signs of life – sales in the US grew 1.6 percent last year in a declining market – but volumes for the Giulia sedan and Stelvio crossover are low.
Fiat is sticking with its small car line, but declining sales have fallen even further during the pandemic, dropping by more than half last year to just 4,303 vehicles. Meanwhile, Dodge has been conquering a niche as the muscle brand, but it has no electrified offerings, and two of the three nameplates still in production are cars in a market heavily focused on SUVs and crossovers.
Add to that the seven brands PSA Group is contributing to the merger, and some streamlining seems likely. But killing FCA brands wouldn’t be an easy decision or process, even if almost none of the company’s dealers are single-brand stores that would be left out in the cold.
“You have to be very careful if you are thinking about killing a brand as a parent,” said Karl Brauer, executive analyst for iSeeCars.com, a used car search site. “I look at two brands, such as Fiat and Chrysler. It certainly seems easy to imagine that they are leaving, that they are not justified given their sales volume and market share. But I also feel all those rules that we would normally have adopted [FCA] are now different because of the merger with PSA. “
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Dodge is the ‘muscle brand’. For some reason, I can’t stop saying ‘muscle burn’ in my head.
2nd gear: more Stellantis
Investors love the merger. For now.
From Reuters:
Stellantis, the carmaker created by the combination of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot owner PSA, got off to a positive start on Monday, its shares surging 8% after their European market debut, valuing the company at around 42 billion euros ($ 51 billion) .
[…]
“We have the scale, resources, diversity and know-how to successfully exploit the opportunities of this new era of transportation,” said Chairman John Elkann on the occasion in a video posted on the Borsa Italiana website.
Chief Executive Carlos Tavares said the merger would add 25 billion euros in shareholder value over the years, thanks to anticipated cost savings.
“I can tell you that the focus from day one will be on the value creation that will result from the implementation of those synergies,” Tavares said in the same video.
Fiat Chrysler (FCA) and PSA have said that Stellantis can cut costs by more than $ 5 billion a year without plant closures.
Stellantis’ $ 51 billion is a lot of money, but at the time of writing, Tesla is worth nearly $ 800 billion (on paper).
3rd gear: Last year was the worst year for car sales in Europe on record
Last year, nobody had a good year. Even if you did, no one wants to hear about it. The news for car manufacturers in Europe is in line with everything else.
From Bloomberg:
European car sales fell the most last year at a record high, as relatively resilient demand in the second half made up for the collapse during the initial Covid-19 outbreak so well.
New vehicle registrations fell 24%, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association said Tuesday, the largest annual decline since records began in 1990. A strong year-end for Volkswagen AG and PSA Group limited the decline across the board. sector in December to only 3.7%.
Automakers were better able to deal with government measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus over the course of the year, helped by grants and dealers who embraced online ordering tools. But the collapse in sales in March, April and May proved difficult to come back as the industry delivered a single month of growth throughout the year. The Chinese car market, on the other hand, grew in the second half of the year.
4th gear: Tesla spoke to the media!
The news here is that Tesla is now shipping China-made Model Ys, but I’m more concerned with the fact that Tesla has actually made a comment in the media. It has been utter silence from the California company for a while.
From Reuters:
Tesla Inc said on Monday that it has begun to deliver its Shanghai-made Model Y SUVs to customers in China.
A representative of the US automaker made the comment in response to a question from Reuters.
5th Gear: There is a bit of a settlement happening in Japan with seniors and cars
Nearly a third of Japan is over 65, and it’s an ongoing debate out there (and everywhere else) how old is too old to drive. Car manufacturers add safety features, and many seniors voluntarily give up their driver’s license after one horrific accident in 2019.
From Bloomberg:
According to the National Police Agency, 350,428 people aged 75 or older returned their driving licenses in 2019, the highest ever.
[…]
Last year, Toyota improved its Safety Sense offering. The technology is designed to prevent or mitigate frontal collisions and keep drivers in their lane. Using high-resolution cameras on the windshield and bumper-mounted radars, it can detect oncoming traffic or pedestrians – or even bikes in daylight – and provide audible and visual warnings. If the drivers do not respond, the brakes can be applied automatically. The new software also has intersection functionality to detect oncoming obstacles when a car is turning from a stop.
Other features of Toyota Safety Sense include lane departure correction, automatic switching between high and low beam at night depending on surrounding traffic, and the detection of slower cars on a highway and automatic stop of a vehicle. preset distance. Road-sign Assistance technology detects stop and speed signs when they are passed and displays a dashboard warning in case drivers have missed them themselves.
[…]
Subaru Corp.’s ambitions are comparable; it aims to eliminate all fatal accidents by 2030. Like several other car manufacturers, it uses stereo cameras, which have two or more lenses with a separate image sensor for each, allowing three-dimensional images to be captured. The technology, called EyeSight, looks ahead and warns drivers of any danger. Subaru says Eyesight-equipped vehicles cause 61% fewer crashes and 85% fewer rear-end crashes. Pedestrian injuries are reduced by 35%.
Reverse: Zeppelin
Neutral: how are you?
The man across the street spends about 90 percent of his time polishing and waxing and chatting his old Chrysler hot rod. I wish I loved everything so much.