Stellantis Merger Now Playing at a Dealer Near You

by Jason R. Sakurai

Published: January 19th, 2021

stellantis merger now playing at a dealer near you

Stellantis, the merger between Peugeot and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, became effective on Saturday, January 16th. The world’s fourth-largest carmaker has emerged, a surprise to no one.

For those of you who were wondering, Stellantis’ common shares began trading on Euronext in Paris and Mercato Telematico Azionario in Milan on Monday, while we were observing Martin Luther King Jr. Day. If you have a few bucks to spare, trading on the New York Stock Exchange begins today, and the ticker symbol is STLA.

The courtship of Groupe PSA by FCA has been covered previously, with the announcement of who at Peugeot will run the show. To most Americans, the five Groupe PSA brands are vaguely unfamiliar. Peugeot, Citroën, DS, Opel, and Vauxhall. The FCA brands, Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Lancia, Ram, and Maserati, are storied, some even iconic. This of course begs the question, why are the French running the show?

In a dance reminiscent of the marriage between Nissan and Renault, will this union produce similar results? Will there be diminishing returns more widely dispersed, or is this going to be the global juggernaut that achieves dominance in every market in which it has an entry? Only time will tell if the $38 billion deal fizzles out like the remake of The Gong Show, or it endures as the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe have.

[Images: Stellantis, Groupe PSA]

#Acquisition #Bailout #Fca #Megamerger #Peugeot

Jason R. Sakurai

With a father who owned a dealership, I literally grew up in the business. After college, I worked for GM, Nissan and Mazda, writing articles for automotive enthusiast magazines as a side gig. I discovered you could make a living selling ad space at Four Wheeler magazine, before I moved on to selling TV for the National Hot Rod Association. After that, I started Roadhouse, a marketing, advertising and PR firm dedicated to the automotive, outdoor/apparel, and entertainment industries. Through the years, I continued writing, shooting, and editing. It keep things interesting.

More by Jason R. Sakurai

Comments

Join the conversation

4 of 46 comments

Victor on Jan 19, 2021

Here's what will happen: 1) Fiat will get the axe in the US, and likely a new Punto in Europe. It will soldier on with PSA platforms much like Opel/Vauxhall are doing these days. 2) Jeep will stay where it is; Dodge might get some crossovers to show for, mostly as cheap versions of whatever Jeep gets. 3) Peugeot won't come to America, neither Citroën or DS. 4) Americans will keep believing Chrysler is still a thing. It isn't.

Like Reply
- Mjz on Jan 20, 2021
  
  I agree/disagree. Tavares is smart and knows the value of brands within their sales regions. Opel/Vauxhall being a perfect example. Chrysler/Dodge have been starved for product. They will get PSA platform versions of various models and they will not try to reintroduce Peugeot/Citroen here.
  
  Like
Nick on Jan 20, 2021

I've been taking Stellantis for my high blood pressure for years.

Like Reply
- Mjz on Jan 20, 2021
  
  Take garlic gels instead.
  
  Like

Recent Comments

EBFlex Honda all day long. Why? It's a Honda.
Lou_BC My ex had issues with the turbo CRV not warming up in the winter.I'd lean to the normally aspirated RAV 4. In some cases asking people to chose is like asking a Muslim and Christian to pick their favourite religion.
3-On-The-Tree Agree turbo diesels are probably a different setup lower compression heat etc. I never towed with my rig and it was all 40 miles round trip to work with dealer synthetic oil 5,000mi changes. Don’t know the cause but it soured my opinion on turbo’s plus the added potential expense.
DesertNative More 'Look at me! Look at me!' from Elon Musk. It's time to recognize that there's nothing to see here, folks and that this is just about pumping up the stock price. When there's a real product on the ground and available, then there will be something to which we can pay attention. Until then, ignore him.
Bkojote Here's something you're bound to notice during ownership that won't come up in most reviews or test drives-Honda's Cruise Control system is terrible. Complete trash. While it has the ability to regulate speed if there's a car in front of you, if you're coasting down a long hill with nobody in front of you the car will keep gaining speed forcing you to hit the brakes (and disable cruise). It won't even use the CVT to engine brake, something every other manufacturer does. Toyota's system will downshift and maintain the set speed. The calibration on the ACC system Honda uses is also awful and clearly had minimum engineering effort.Here's another- those grille shutters get stuck the minute temperature drops below freezing meaning your engine goes into reduced power mode until you turn it off. The Rav4 may have them but I have yet to see this problem.