Poor 12 Month Earnings Forecast for Stellantis, but GM, Ford Look Good

From Wall Street Journal...

"After a knockout few years, the successor company to Fiat Chrysler has struggled to shift an aging, aggressively priced line up of Jeeps and RAM trucks. With inventories accumulating on lots, dealers have been pushing it to sweeten the deal with buyers. This month the company kicked off a $2,000 summer “bonus cash” program.

Cutting prices that were too high won’t necessarily start a price war, and Stellantis’s problems seem largely of its own making. “We were arrogant,” as Chief Executive Carlos Tavares admitted at an investor day last month. "

A few months ago, or even longer, they had decent dealer discounts on ram 2500's and a 10% off MSRP...and they still weren't selling well. Then, they lowered the MSRP, but it is/was still higher than the 10% discount, and the dealers got rid of their discounts, or drastically reduced them. 2500's around me for a fairly loaded Laramie trim was around 16k to 19k off the original MSRP. Now they are around 4k to 7k off the new MSRP. I still don't understand how they think they will sell more with a higher price and months later when the new 2025 with a supposed 8 speed and possibly more power from the Cummins is right around the corner. You would think they would be aggressive trying to get 2024's off the lot soon to make room for the 2025.

Forget about pricing....Price doesn't buy loyalty, service does. Ask yourself...How long has that CP4 pump recall been going on, and have you completed it yet? Nooooooooooooooo. How did you handle the recall on the drag link? A cheapo weld instead of a new part? Yesssssssssssssss......... How many stories have we already heard about brandy new 2025's crapping out right off the lot? Toooooooo many to mention. All the pricing in the world won't fix the customer dissatisfaction issues. FIX YOUR SERVICE AFTER THE SALE!!!!!

Time for them to make room on the Clearance Rack. Way too many new vehicle problems for manufacturers to try and command such high prices. There is a shift in the automotive world. New data is showing the average age of a vehicle on the road is now 12 years old. Up from recent, prior years, of 7 years old. Is that indicative of better built vehicles a few years ago or people are not willing to pay the higher prices for more problematic new vehicles (or a combo of)?

Scottly said:

FIX YOUR SERVICE AFTER THE SALE!!!!!

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I think Ford and GM have the same issue though.

As they said, they got arrogant. Now what do they do? Hard to back down MSRP very far w/o hurting the brand. Big discounts will drive down profits margins. Be a hard stock to buy into for a while.

BenchTest said:

There is a shift in the automotive world. New data is showing the average age of a vehicle on the road is now 12 years old. Up from recent, prior years, of 7 years old. Is that indicative of better built vehicles a few years ago or people are not willing to pay the higher prices for more problematic new vehicles (or a combo of)?

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You make great points. We do know that part of that shift was due to supply chain shortages. for 3+ years there were not enough new cars to buy. Even the rental car companies are keeping them longer.

jejb said:

I think Ford and GM have the same issue though.

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They all have their problems. Locally, my Ram dealer sucks balls...I bought a New Chevy because of it. If they fire the service director, might change my mind. I told them so...and I trade every 2 years, so if your loyalty to that scumbag service director is greater than your loyalty to your customers, that's on them.

Scottly said:

Forget about pricing....Price doesn't buy loyalty, service does. Ask yourself...How long has that CP4 pump recall been going on, and have you completed it yet? Nooooooooooooooo. How did you handle the recall on the drag link? A cheapo weld instead of a new part? Yesssssssssssssss......... How many stories have we already heard about brandy new 2025's crapping out right off the lot? Toooooooo many to mention. All the pricing in the world won't fix the customer dissatisfaction issues. FIX YOUR SERVICE AFTER THE SALE!!!!!

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I equate this to a discussion I've had many times regarding Ruger. Most people fall in one of two camps with Ruger. They either hate them because "they're cheaply made and don't have the engineering blah blah" or they absolutely love them and would never part with theirs. They are successful because they have stellar customer service. They don't beat you up over "did you use this ammo, was it on a Tuesday before noon while sipping coffee and making a left turn?" - You contact them, let them know the issue you've experienced and they GET ON IT. They go above and beyond to make sure you as a consumer are happy with their product. Same thing with Hi-Point. I don't want to start a discussion on Hi-Point as I'm well aware of people's opinions on the product. They are successful because they stand by their product. They don't harass the consumer, belittle them, and point fingers. They are more interested in their products functioning properly and maintaining their image. On the opposite of that spectrum are companies like Kimber. They are hit/miss on their quality. They have a BEAUTIFUL product, but not one that works reliably across the footprint of said product. You might get one that is the best of the best, but you're more likely to get one that will spend more time in transit and re-work than actively being used at the range/carry. This applies to new vehicles. Lots of pretty and shiny, but when it comes to broad-spectrum reliability, they're missing the mark a lot of times.

BenchTest said:

Time for them to make room on the Clearance Rack.

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I'm sorry...I thought you was talking about single women over 40

BenchTest said:

I equate this to a discussion I've had many times regarding Ruger. Most people fall in one of two camps with Ruger. They either hate them because "they're cheaply made and don't have the engineering blah blah" or they absolutely love them and would never part with theirs. .......On the opposite of that spectrum are companies like Kimber.

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I am in the middle with Ruger. Their 1911's are poor quality...The GP100 revo's are the stuff of legend. Kimber's went to crap with the Series II guns....Oh, but it's fun to watch those Kimber faithful brag about their manufacturing tolerance-mismatched parts piles with that wonderful Schwartz safety systems. May the Schwartz be with you. PS: I compete in USPSA...Revolver Master, "A" in Limited, Single Stack, and Carry Optics. My opinions are from 15+ years of 10K++ rounds shot annually, 20+ years of smithing custom 1911's.

Scottly said:

I am in the middle with Ruger. Their 1911's are poor quality...The GP100 revo's are the stuff of legend. Kimber's went to crap with the Series II guns....Oh, but it's fun to watch those Kimber faithful brag about their manufacturing tolerance-mismatched parts piles with that wonderful Schwartz safety systems. May the Schwartz be with you. PS: I compete in USPSA...Revolver Master, "A" in Limited, Single Stack, and Carry Optics. My opinions are from 15+ years of 10K++ rounds shot annually, 20+ years of smithing custom 1911's.

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Glad you're one of the good guys.