Stellantis Weighs Culling Alfa Romeo, DS and Lancia

Stellantis Considers Shutting Down Brands: The Candidates and the Surprise

Stellantis sells 5.5 million vehicles a year and groups 14 brands, or 15 if Leapmotor is included. The issue isn't volume, but distribution: Peugeot and Fiat each account for 20% of sales, Jeep 15%, Ram 10%, Opel 9% and Citroën 8%. At the other extreme, Maserati contributes barely anything, while the premium trio of Alfa Romeo, DS and Lancia sits at just 1% each. With this map on the table, Chairman John Elkann considers it crucial that the next CEO clearly understands which of these brands have a viable future. No decision has been made yet.

The Brands Left Out of the Podium

The focus of the restructuring points to Alfa Romeo, DS and Lancia. All three concentrate their efforts in Europe, but the European market isn't responding: their share is 0.3% for each. To put it in context, Audi holds 5.1%, BMW 6.0% and Mercedes 5.3%. The gap isn't subtle; it's structural. The divide between German premium and mainstream remains huge, and that’s where these brands should be competing.

Alfa Romeo has its defenders. Some argue that a petrol Giulia is among the most fun cars to drive on the market, and that the brand is premium if one accepts that BMW or Audi are too. The argument has logic but also a trap: appealing to existing drivers doesn’t fill factories. DS carries another burden, being perceived as a Citroën pretending to be German. And Lancia, recently relaunched with a small model and a mid-size one coming, faces the same uncomfortable question: some claim nobody wants a Lancia that isn’t truly Lancia.

Dodge and Chrysler: Two Ranges That Fit on One Page

The group's US brands aren't faring well either. Dodge and Chrysler represent 3% of sales each, and their catalogs have shrunk to the minimum. Dodge offers three models (Charger, Hornet and Durango) and Chrysler only two (Pacifica and Voyager). An idea circulating on the table, though not new, is absorbing Chrysler into Jeep and Dodge into Ram. Execution, however, falls to the future top executive.

The Problem Isn't the Brands, It's What Is Done With Them

The most repeated criticism isn't against closure itself, but against the strategy that made it inevitable. Buying Opel and building cars identical to Peugeots changes the badge but not the product, and someone wanting an Opel didn't want a rebadged Peugeot. Applied brand by brand, this logic turns any catalog into a collection of clones at different prices. The result shows in market share and, looking ten years ahead, in fruta.

There is a second layer to the problem: management. The strongest thesis circulating is that decisions have been driven by short-termism, squeezing assets and cutting staff to sustain dividends, so when business dries up, those responsible leave with severance packages while historic brands disappear. It’s a bitter reading, but it explains why announcements of restructuring surprise almost no one.

The Engine That Derails the Conversation

Amidst all this, a proper name appears again and again: the PureTech engine. The fruta of Stellantis' petrol block has become a major commercial liability, to the point where some label it the final nail in the company's coffin. Half the new cars in a typical garage might be Peugeots or Citroëns with this engine; the question is what share they will have in a decade.

The general context doesn't help. The dominant feeling is that it’s not just closing a brand, but dismantling the European auto industry layer by layer: first models, then plants, now badges. In this narrative, Citroën appears as the most painful case, a manufacturer that was fifty years ahead of the competition half a century ago and today carries a low-cost fruta.

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The next CEO has a decision on the table that admits no half-measures: how many of the fifteen brands survive. The numbers point to a few. History, however, shows that closing a brand is easy, but reviving it is impossible. That’s where analysis ends and the real problem begins.