For several weeks now, there has been a steady stream of information about Stellantis the Group has decided to concentrate its efforts on four priority brands, namely Fiat, Peugeot, Jeep and RAM. A move that may come as a surprise to some observers, especially in view of the Franco-Italian-American automaker's gigantic portfolio. However, the industrial and financial logic behind this decision is quite clear.
Stellantis aims to quickly turn the tide
After a complicated period marked by falling sales in several markets, high inventories and pressurized margins, Stellantis now seems to be focusing on immediate efficiency rather than risky long-term bets.
Why these four brands? Quite simply because they are already global brands capable of generating volume quickly. Jeep, Peugeot and Fiat each exceed one million annual sales worldwide. They already have solid networks, adapted factories and, above all, an established customer base.
The objective is simple: maximize revenues, restore profits and get factories running at full capacity as quickly as possible. Clearly, Stellantis is above all looking for brands capable of producing visible results quickly.
Conversely, some of the Group's Italian brands are still too fragile to drive growth on their own. Lancia barely exceeds 10,000 annual sales, Alfa Romeo hovers around 70,000 units, while Maserati has fallen below 10,000 units. This doesn't mean they've been abandoned, far from it. But they have yet to prove that they can return to profitability, profitability and real sales momentum. For the time being, they are clearly not the ones that will enable Stellantis to post record revenues.
Why Fiat was chosen over Opel and Citroën
On paper, however, Fiat was not an obvious choice. In Europe, the Italian brand has long since ceased to dominate. By 2025, Opel will be selling around 400,000 units a year, Citroën around 350,000, while Fiat will remain below the 300,000 mark. But Stellantis no longer thinks in terms of Europe alone.
This is precisely where Fiat makes the difference. The Italian brand still has an extremely strong presence in several strategic regions of the world. In Latin America, particularly Brazil and Argentina, Fiat has been performing well for years and now exceeds 600,000 annual sales. The brand benefits from a very strong popular image and a range perfectly adapted to local expectations.
Added to this is Fiat's historic presence in North Africa and the Mediterranean basin, with markets such as Turkey, Algeria and Morocco. This presence gives Fiat a truly international dimension that Citroën and Opel do not have. All in all, taking Europe, Latin America and North Africa together, Fiat sells well over a million units a year. Above all, Stellantis believes that growth potential remains enormous.
Fiat, Stellantis' future growth driver?
The Group clearly believes strongly in Fiat's return to prominence in Europe. As its CEO, Olivier François, recently stated: Fiat aims to become Stellantis' growth engine for the European market.
This ambition is based on a very clear strategy: to rapidly offer a wide, accessible and aggressively priced range. With the new models expected in the coming months, Stellantis hopes to enable Fiat to regain significant volumes in Europe, while continuing its already solid growth in Latin America and North Africa.
This is probably what tipped the balance against Opel and Citroën. Both brands remain highly dependent on the European market. While they can still make progress, they will inevitably come up against the limits of a mature, highly competitive and stagnating European market. Fiat, on the other hand, has several international growth drivers already up and running. And above all, unlike some of the Group's other brands, it can grow rapidly without requiring colossal investments to relaunch itself on new continents.
In the end, Stellantis' choice seems less emotional than economic: among Opel, Citroën and Fiat, the Italian brand today appears to be the one capable of generating the most growth... and the fastest.
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A little more interest in Fiat on the part of the group and things should be back on track. We need to bring back customers and remotivate the network, and above all get our feet back on the ground in terms of pricing.
Citroën, on the other hand, is starting to feel the pinch, as it doesn't deserve its current low-cost position. It could easily be replaced by Fiat, Leapmotor, or even Dongfeng, which is likely to share the Rennes plant. It remains to be seen how this partnership will pan out in the future...
I hope Citroen will be able to manage without this shitty group.
In any case, under PSA, Citroëns were already Peugeots, so there's nothing new there.
Opel, Renault,Peugeot und Jeep sollte mann alle vernichten ,ist wirklich nur Schrott ebenso Maserati
I agree, Citroën deserves better.
But Peugeot has always downgraded everything it has touched.
Citroën has gone bankrupt twice in its history, and Peugeot had nothing to do with it!
On the contrary, they saved them! «It's historic too.
I couldn't agree more, and Simca is the perfect example. After killing SIMCA, they went on to kill Matra and finally Citroën.
Peugeot has always hated in-house brands that overshadow it.
Peugeot should have disappeared decades ago.
Because Simca or Citroën is far more prestigious than Peugeot, which will never know.
Scudric, have you read what I've written?
Simca more prestigious than Peugeot?
Your imaginary world is beautiful!
Deja PSA didn't save anyone and even destroyed the brands they owned and yes Simca has always been more prestigious than PSA and the proof is that when PSA took over Simca (to destroy the brand and simply recover its network), they sold out of 10 cars 8 Simca because customers didn't want archaic Peugeot.
Peugeot is a low-end brand and will always be a low-end brand. Only in your deluded world can you believe that Peugeot makes anything other than low-end cars.
So Scudric, you obviously don't know how to read or understand!?
Citroën went bankrupt in 1934, then in 1976, the government asked Peugeot to save Citroën from extinction!
Citroën died in 1976!
I think the story is clear!?
Why talk about Simca? Is that the subject? So it's a HS.
I knew some Citroën veterans, Citroën would have killed Panhard... So what? Is that the point?
«Peugeot is a low-end brand and will forever remain a low-end brand.»
You can recognize the snarky troll.
Did something happen in your childhood in a Peugeot???
Dass die Franzosen hier antworten ist klar und dass Opel da keine Rolle spielt auch. Opel war eine internationale Marke bis GM das systematisch kaputt gemacht hat und anstelle Chevrolet forciert hat. PSA hätte das ändern können, Stellantis will das nicht. So wird eine Traditionsmarke kaputt gemacht. Die jetzigen Opel Fahrzeuge sind auf jeden Fall keine mehr. Ein Abklatsch an Design, Performance und Qualität von früher.
And what's more, FIAT offers reliable engines!
The problem is what's around the engine!
Ah because at Peugeot everything is reliable around their unreliable engines? 😂
Over 100 years of automobiles? Certainly!
Over more than 100 years of automotive history, the only sure thing about Peuageot is the number of times they've gone bankrupt - that's a given - and that they've massacred all the brands in their possession!
For over 100 years, Fiat engines and cars have been a thousand times more reliable than Peugeots, that's for sure.
Only in your snarky troll fantasy world... @Scudric
You're already known on other sites for talking nonsense.
I don't understand why we tolerate you here with so many lies.
Franzosen Müll
«Franzosen Müll»?
The Germans were happy to keep the French Renault and Peugeot factories working during the war.
The poor reliability of Peugeots at the time was due to acts of sabotage, led by Ferdinand Porsche.
Nothing to see. PSA has always been linked to the problem of reliability since its creation with archaic and totally outdated concepts, that's the reality.
If you want to talk about profit, you can see how much the French spit on American cars, but that didn't stop them from using their own engines!
Really?
Give your sources!!!
Wasn't there sabotage by Peugeot employees?
Stop your slander, it's getting serious!
This article is wrong about one thing: it should have replaced Fiat with Peugeot. It should have written why Stellantis chose Peugeot over Citroën and Opel. Stellantis are no fools, Fiat is the group's number 1 global brand, industrially established all over the world, Peugeot only sells in Europe, and when I say Europe I'm exaggerating, it only sells in France!
I disagree, Fiat, Citröen and Opel today share more in platform and range than Peugeot with the rest. In the end, Stellantis chose Peugeot and Fiat. And Peugeot sells over 1 million cars in Europe alone. There may be a media outlet called citroenpassion asking why Peugeot rather than Citroën, but at italpassion we're talking about Fiat.
In Europe, Peugeot is unhesitatingly No. 1 in the group, despite an unreliable engine!
Whether you like it or not, they have a range adapted to the market, Fiat e has been unable to bring out a competitor to the 3008!
Was unable or unwilling to do so. Up until then, Fiat had been content to produce urban-oriented cars and a compact car.
Alternatively, you could take the opposite line of reasoning: Peugeot has been incapable of making a competitor to the Panda and 500, or has always been incapable of offering REAL 4×4s, unlike Fiat.
Well said.
Dem schließe ich mich an, den 2008 als 4×4, das Ding wäre durch die Decke gegangen, leider nicht gewollt! Lieber eine Kooperation mit Dangel, was meiner Meinung nach viel zu kompliziert ist!
zafira500, Peugeot and Fiat are complementary overall ... Except on diesel where they were both good, but that's over!
Fiat specializes in small cars.
Where Fiat's best-selling cars end, Peugeot's should begin!
4X4 cars remain a niche, except in the export market, and it's a pity that cooperation with Dangel hasn't taken off.
But the 4x4s of the future will surely be hybrids without transmission tunnels.
We shouldn't confuse 4WD for cross-country driving (such as the Dangel system fitted on real 4×4s) with 4WD for everyday use, as on the Panda. And no, 4WD is not at all a niche market, as Subaru has proved. Fiat is decades ahead of PSA once again in this field, as well as for reliable engines. Even when it comes to front-wheel drive, Renault has literally crushed PSA, and even back in the day, Citroën held the road better than any Peugeot.
Ah yes ... And what was Fiat in 2021!?
Scudric... The history revisionist
Not only is Peugeot not number one in the EU, it's VAG, Toyota and BMW, and Fiat has never tried to make a 3008, which is no success whatever the plan.
We have to stop believing that PSA is number one in the EU, because that was never the case, and Fiat has other markets that PSA never had!
Exactly 💯!!! A lot of stupid articles lately in this website. This guy should be smarter about Italian cars!
Only ignorant people can compare Fiat with Citroen and Opel, because Fiat sells twice as many cars as them.
The stupid guy thanks you!
The equipment of these models, particularly electric ones (I'm thinking of the Fiat Grizzly and Grizzly Fastback), will have to be significantly improved, because Chinese manufacturers such as MG and BYD are coming up with particularly generous offers (although they'll have to be rust-free). The 113 hp motor, for example, its efficiency, battery size, recharging times, infotainment, crash test results: none of this is up to scratch at 35,000 euros, the price of a Frontera electric GS.
A logical choice. Peugeot is the Group's driving force in Europe. Citroën and Opel are a shadow of their former selves. Jeep is international, RAM is US. Fiat is Mercosur and all emerging markets.
It's quite funny, but I can see Stellantis betting on FIAT only in these markets and abandoning Europe. It would be «funny» if a historically Italian/European brand were to abandon its roots, but in any case, for the moment, these are the markets where FIAT sells. Europe doesn't want it anymore...
Peugeot/RAM/JEEP/Fiat complement each other perfectly.
«Fiat is Mercosur and all emerging markets.»
It is also the Group's leading brand.
That said, the Group's top-selling brand doesn't mean it's the most profitable. A 3008 sold in Europe, for example, earns more than 5 Argos sold in Brazil (I'm just throwing figures around to illustrate). It's not a bad thing that the group is banking on Fiat in Mercosur rather than in Europe. It makes more sense than trying to set up Citroën and getting bogged down in it.
Exactly, Stabak!
Between Quantity and margins, the latter sometimes yields much more.
A 5008 sells relatively little!? But a lot!
An Argos costs 3 times less to produce than a 3008, which is unmarketable because it's too expensive and unreliable.
Scudric,
Totally FALSE... Even a simple car can't be 3 X cheaper than an impossible 3008.
Since when is the 3008 III unreliable... Your fantasy world again!?
We've seen 4WD cars like the 405 at PSA and the disaster that was in terms of reliability, hence the saying at the time:
«With Peugeot, every day a new problem!»
You're living in a fantasy world, because a car with lower salaries, charges, expenses and raw materials can easily cost 3 times less to produce than a despicable, unreliable 5008 that's selling so well that nowhere to be seen 🤣
A 5008 that makes sick margins? It's all very well to dream, but reality says otherwise, because PSA is only good at selling small cars, and even their latest «so-called» sports car was a huge flop.
Unmarketable...1100 vehicles produced per day....and too expensive...I don't see any difference with the h
Similar ranges.....de plus it's produced in France and employs 10en de milliers jobs along with the suppliers. I can sense your hatred of Peugeot, which is your own business. But you have to master the data before publishing.
So not only are margins high on every 5008 sale, but the model is also a real success! Thank you for that.
So, as usual, Scudric's got it all wrong.
In the end, it all comes down to the same thing. Too many brands! Let Fiat stay, it's obvious it's already an ex-European number one! Peugeot isn't just French... stupid to say so. And Citroën has such a history... the other brands except Jeep aren't much use...
«And Citroën has such a history».»
Alfa Romeo also has a history. Lancia too. Ditto Maserati (some of it with... Citroën). It's a false problem.
All brands can live well with one or two models inspired by the cars that made their success!
But they still have to come out!
First of all, it's stupid to believe that PSA sells cars outside France, because nobody wants them and sales prove it. Secondly, the history of Citroën has been massacred by Peugeot. Everyone can see it except those who live in an imaginary world, and the history of Lancia, Alfa or Maserati is more glorious than that of Peugeot.
Before Stellantis, FCA sold 10 times more cars than it does now that it has the PSA ball and chain attached to its foot!
Worldwide sales.
Fiat in 2021: 1.3 million, of which 1/3 for MERCOSUR
Peugeot in 2021: 1.2 million
We can also imagine the difference in real margins, not in %... Real!
So how did FCA sell 10 times as many cars!???
The automotive world has been running smoothly since 2021???
Peugeot is useless because its history and international presence are zero.
Peugeot is like DS, money thrown out the window that we never get back, and with each bankruptcy, it's the French taxpayer who picks up the tab!
In sports.... Zero
On the EU market 8th place.
In short, Peugeot, Opel, DS and Vauxhall are 4 heavyweights that need to be sold as soon as possible to the Chinese, who will do better than the French without forcing the issue.
Ik rijdt al jaren met fiat begonnen met fiat 128 dan Fiat 124 dan fiat 131mirafiori dan een Punto evo en nu een fiat hybride 600 allemaal hebben ze hun dienst bewezen onderhoud is heel belangrijk Fiat heeft me nooit in de steek gelaten ..waarom dan van merk veranderen..??
Heel de wijsheid van de top van Stellantis, evenals de commentaren van de alleswetende lezers, het kan me gestolen worden. Ik rijd al 52 jaren met Citroen. Van 2 pk over DS, Dyane en Ami, AX en GS, Cactus en Berlingo. Al die jaren zonder pech. Citroen zit in mijn hart. Het is een mooi betaalbaar merk met toch altijd dat beetje creativiteit en non conformisme, waarmee het zich onderscheidt van de burgerlijke opschepperig van zoveel andere merken.
You have to compare sales positions, but FIAT occupies the Mercosur market, which is a market of the future with great potential, whereas Europe is too mature.
On the other hand, in these markets, we won't have to be content with low-cost products, as the Chinese manufacturers coming to FIAT will have to adapt their positioning accordingly.
FIAT to lose its temp in EUROPE
Bu kadar markaya tek bir servis cevap veremiyor Citroen aracıma bir ay sonraya servis randevusu verdiler araç km si 15 bin km geçtiği için garanti kapsamından çıkardılar bu grubun araçlarını almak pişmanlıktır. Garanti kapsamında kurum sensörü arızası verdi araç garanti kapsamında değil dediler tamir ücreti aldılar
Araçlara geç servis randevusu verip garanti kapsamından çıkarıyorlar bukadar markaya servis yetersiz kalıyor.Bu gurubun araçlarını alanlar çok pişman.Garanti kapsamından çıkarıp ücretli tamir ediyorlar