DETROIT \u2014\u00a0Stellantis\u2019 U.S. dealer network has joined the United Auto Workers union in criticizing CEO Carlos Tavares for the company\u2019s recent sales declines, factory production cuts and other decisions they deem detrimental to the automaker\u2019s business.<\/p>\n
In\u00a0an open letter\u00a0to Tavares this week, the head of Stellantis\u2019 U.S. dealer council, Kevin Farrish, condemned the chief executive for prioritizing the company\u2019s profits at the cost of sales, market share and the reputations of its Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram brands. The council represents the company\u2019s 2,600 U.S. dealers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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\u2013the fallout is mounting. Your own distribution network, your dealer body, has been left in an anemic and diminished state,\u201d Farrish wrote in the Tuesday letter, which\u00a0Bloomberg\u00a0first reported Wednesday night.<\/p>\n
Farrish, a dealer in Virginia, said the dealer council has raised concerns about the company\u2019s operations for two years, and accused Tavares of \u201creckless short-term decision making\u201d that boosted profits and padded his compensation but have led to the \u201crapid degradation\u201d of its brands, he wrote.<\/p>\n
Stellantis, in a statement Wednesday night, said it takes \u201cabsolute exception to the letter,\u201d citing a 21% increase in August sales over July and an \u201caction plan developed with the dealer body.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt Stellantis, we don\u2019t believe that public personal attacks, such as the one in the open letter from the NDC president against our CEO, are the most effective way to solve problems,\u201d the company said. \u201cWe have started a path that will prove successful. We will continue to work with our dealers to avoid any public disputes that will delay our ability to deliver results.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stellantis reported a record profit in 2023, but so far this year, the automaker reported a first-half net profit of 5.6 billion euros ($6.07 billion),\u00a0down 48% from the same period\u00a0of 2023.<\/p>\n
Shares of Stellantis are off roughly 36% this year to around $15. The stock hit a new 52-week low Thursday of $14.76 per share.<\/p>\n
Tavares has\u00a0been on a profit-driven, cost-cutting mission\u00a0since the company was formed through a merger between Fiat Chrysler and France\u2019s PSA Groupe in January 2021. It\u2019s part of his \u201cDare Forward 2030\u201d plan to increase profits and double revenue to 300 billion euros ($325 billion) by 2030.<\/p>\n
The cost-saving measures have included reshaping the company\u2019s supply chain and operations as well as headcount reductions and cutting vehicle production at plants.<\/p>\n
Several Stellantis executives described the earlier cuts to CNBC as difficult but effective. Others, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to potential repercussions, said they were grueling to the point of excessiveness.<\/p>\n
UAW President Shawn Fain also has\u00a0publicly criticized Tavares, including in a speech last month\u00a0at the Democratic National Convention. He has accused Tavares of price gouging consumers and failing to uphold parts of the union\u2019s labor contract with the automaker.<\/p>\n
The UAW, which represents roughly 38,000 Stellantis employees, is holding a rally Thursday afternoon at a union hall near Stellantis\u2019 Warren Truck Assembly Plant in suburban Detroit to \u201ccondemn the gross mismanagement\u201d at the company, according to an email.<\/p>\n
U.S. sales for Stellantis, formerly Fiat Chrysler, have declined every year since a recent peak of 2.2 million in 2018. The company sold more than 1.5 million vehicles last year, a roughly 1% decline from 2022, when it reported a significant\u00a0drop of 13% compared with\u00a0the previous year.<\/p>\n
Stellantis\u2019 performance compares to the overall U.S. new light-duty vehicle sales market, which increased\u00a013% last year, according to federal data.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
DETROIT \u2014\u00a0Stellantis\u2019 U.S. dealer network has joined the United Auto Workers union in criticizing CEO Carlos Tavares for the company\u2019s recent sales declines, factory production cuts and other decisions they deem detrimental to the automaker\u2019s business. In\u00a0an open letter\u00a0to Tavares this week, the head of Stellantis\u2019 U.S. dealer council, Kevin Farrish, condemned the chief executive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":9532,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9531\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}