With the merger between Fiat Chrysler and Groupe PSA moving ahead, the two companies have put their heads together and decided on a name for their newly formed automotive conglomerate: Stellantis.
According to FCA and PSA, the root word of Stellantis is the Latin verb “stello” which means “to brighten with stars.” The automakers say the name “draws inspiration from this new and ambitious alignment of storied automotive brands and strong company cultures that in coming together are creating one of the new leaders in the next era of mobility while at the same time preserving all the exceptional value and the values of its constituent parts.” The name will be used in corporate settings only and will not appear on any vehicles or products.
Once the FCA-PSA merger is complete, the Stellantis group of companies will be one of the world’s largest automakers in the world. Not only that, with the company’s various brands operating all over the globe, most people will be able to buy a Stellantis product no matter where they live. This means it will be a formidable foe to General Motors, which has been forced to scale back its global operations to invest in core markets like North America and China.
FCA’s brands (ie. Jeep, Dodge, Chrysler, Alfa Romeo and Ram) are popular in North America and compete directly with offerings from Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC. The PSA brands, such as Peugeot, Opel-Vauxhall, Citroen and DS, have Europe covered off, while Fiat and Alfa Romeo also enjoy a large presence throughout the continent. GM pulled out of Europe after the sale of Opel-Vauxhall to Groupe PSA in 2017 and no longer operates in the market.
PSA’s brands are moderately successful in South America, but GM is more successful there with its Chevrolet brand. The Chevrolet Onix is the best-selling car in Brazil, which is the biggest and most important South American market.
One area where Stellantis won’t be much of a competitor for GM is in China. Groupe-PSA currently has the goal of selling 250,000 vehicles in China annually by 2021 after its Chinese sales fell 55% to 117,084 units last year. FCA, meanwhile, managed to sell just 90,000 units in China last year. By comparison, GM sold 3.09 million vehicles in China last year.
Groupe PSA CEO Carlos Tavares acknowledged previously that the company will “need to find a formula in order to succeed,” in China going forward.
The FCA-PSA merger is expected to be complete by the first quarter of 2021.
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Comments
Yet they had to merge because they both were struggling with cost independently?
Let’s face it bigger is not better till cost are under control. The only thing FCA has to offer is Jeep and Ram. Now they may get into the CUV segment not they have access to smaller vehicle platforms.
To be honest PSA had little influence here. French cars here have never faired well. Unless they lead on price it will remain a struggle.
All Jeep models on sale today are CUVs except for one. Two of them (Renegade and Compass) fight the Trax and Encore tooth and nail for leadership of the B-crossover space. Another one (Grand Cherokee) is often the best-seller in its segment, outselling most of GM’s offerings in this space (sometimes even on a combined basis). The regular Cherokee is the only one that hasn’t found a leadership position yet. Jeep has had access to smaller platforms since the Fiat merger. All but the Wrangler and Grand Cherokee ride on Fiat-derived architectures.
Technically, there is no longer such a thing as a “French” car anymore… much like there really is no such thing as an American or German car. FCA, PSA and GM and most every other automaker today are global companies that happen to trace their beginnings to a particular country, but that’s about it.
Peugeot makes very good cars today that competently rival VW and Opel in Europe (prior to the acquisition of Opel). I wouldn’t discount them just yet.
I too love the quirky looks of Modern Peugeot vehicles. This merger actually makes perfect sense to me.
PSA needed bigger vehicles meaning Trucks and FCA Desperately needed EV Tech and smaller vehicles.
Quirky and Peugeot are two words that don’t work well in America together.
The deal is they have a poor image and little legacy here. It is a very competitive market so unless they compete well on price they will struggle. They also will have to fight the over capacity of FCA. Sweater boy did little to cut cost and capacity and this is why few wanted to dance with FCA.
In the end both were companies few wanted to touch for good reasons. Even the Chinese woul not buy them is telling.
Jeep and Ram is all they are getting and while good divisions is it enough?
I wager Chrysler goes away and if Dodge survives it will be with PSA cars in a market that is rejecting cars. They may provide a few small people haulers but that is it.
Just how many Americans could name a PSA car nor even care?
OPEL aka Saturn or Buick. New Opel vehicles will be good for Chrysler or Dodge. Chrysler is a lot cause unless Dodge becomes a true niche sports brand closely linked to Alfa.
No! Neither firm HAD to merge. This is no act of desperation. Merging, however, increases scale, provides FCA a savior in Europe, and PSA a segway into the US probably via Chrysler, the people mover marque, and Dodge.
PSA has the best mass market margins in Europe, uses only two highly efficient and flexible modular architectures that can accommodate gas or EV, and has the auto world’s finest CEO Carlos Travers who made Opel profitable within 18 months.
Those Opels fit well at Chrysler as they recently did at Saturn and Buick. (The General should have bought PSA, become a global and less China-dependent firm, and then allowed Taveres to be Barra’s successor)
FCA runs high margins, sells popular products and is no pity case. New modular platforms would be great but FCA can make due using Guilia, use the updated USCW, and leverage Ram’s body on frame for large SUVs.
This us a great merger that will keep both sides of the Atlantic healthy during the Covid depression.
Stellantis sounds like another brand for Viagra loo
Ask your doctor today if Stellantis is right for you.
DO YOU MEAN, DOCTOR DOOM, FAUCI?
Smyth,
It takes a real ignorant to attack the only competent person in the entire administration who has worked with the last 6 administrations. And universally praised.
You may change your mind when your family is in body bags. Or not…
Maybe we should keep politics off this forum.
Subtract 7 from 100 a very difficult question according to Trump
Well didn’t fca try to merge with GM or hint that they wanted, to which GM laughed at. Or maybe it was product share with one another. I wonder if there will be a day Ford and GM will be forced to merge. The next 5 to 10 years could change dramatically globally for us all. Who knows what’s to come, and who will be on top
Yes, Sergio Marchionne as FCA CEO approached GM several times for a merger.
I think, this FCA-PSA merger makes more sense. PSA and FIAT produce since 1980 in a 50:50 joint venture the van which is known as the FIAT Ducato and as RAM Promaster, and other model names at Peugeot and Citroën.
OPEL aka Saturn or Buick. New Opel vehicles will be good for Chrysler or Dodge. Chrysler is a lost cause unless Dodge becomes a true niche sports brand closely linked to Alfa.
It’s an open question, as Tavares acknowledges. My guesses:
Dodge, if it survives, is the hot rod division. The Durango is following in the footsteps of the Charger and Challengers. It’s too bad Pontiac couldn’t have done this.
Chrysler is being groomed as the people-hauler division. The Pacifica and Voyager are good family boxes, and supposedly the Town & Country name will be affixed to a big CUV. If so, I’ll miss the 300, the car that got Walter White out of his Aztek.
Fiat came back as a gimmick, and now only the 500X and 124 Spyder remain. I doubt we’ll get the Punto or its other passenger vehicles. Is it the new Plymouth?
Alfa and Maserati have to get more reliable if they’re going to compete with German and Japanese premium models. I doubt the DS or Citroen will take their places, but a boy can dream.
Not seeing a way forward for Peugeot, Citroen, or DS, I assume their efforts will contribute toward, or be badged as, vehicles of the divisions above. In short, people who don’t read websites like this or car magazines won’t really notice the difference.
Hey, Ram needs to bring back a mid-size pick-up like the old Dakota. They will have all there bases covered then.
With Ford’s new Bronco arriving, Jeep has a new and powerful competition. And the Bronco prices seem better, so Jeep may lose its leadership as the best off roading vehicle soon.
It is a terrible name for a company that will continue to produce vehicles with a poor reputations. Even if the new name was “good”, it would only be putting lipstick on livestock.
The important part of the new corporate name is that none of the brand names of cars in it, other than in FCA and PSA, and the name Stellantis will never be put on one of the cars being produced and marketed by this corporation.
People talked a lot about consolidating the platforms between the 14 or so brands of the combined company. By this they meant tool boxes of physical components of cars.
But maybe more important would be to develop a common operating system for all brands, automobiles will be more and more computers on wheels. This thought crept up in me when II listened to a recent interview with Daimler CEO Kallenius, who talked about the central task of his company to develop the MBOS, i.e. the “Mercedes Benz Operating System”.
Think about it
Name sucks! Let’s be honest… really!
Can’t believe we ever let JEEP, RAM, and other Divisions[and all the GREAT TECHNOLOGY] be sold without any Caveat Statement that the Brands never LEAVE the USA…
It started with Mr. EATON, having the upper hand on the deal – when it came to “merging” with Daimler, last minute changing it to Chrysler receiving 49% of the deal. He covertly received hidden deals/monies for the last minute change… and selling it to shareholders. Can you say Crap-Deal? Daimler got all the JEEP/RAM SUV/Truck Technology/Innovations on that Chrysler had in the works, for FREE.
When will the US wake on up! We need leaders with STONES…!
Dont forget the utilities, the van sold in NA as RAM ProMaster, which is commonly produced in Europe by FCA and PSA since 1981.
The competition authority of the EU made an issue of a too strong presence of the combined companies in the utilities segment of the auto market.
Both have a strong presence in the lower segment, represented in NA by the FCA version, the RAM ProMaster City, knwen elsewhere as Fiat Doblo, and until a few years ago as Opel Combo.
The RAM ProMaster City is the FIAT Doblo, PSA Brands have their own product in that range.