If this is what they are saying out loud, then what are they really thinking? Yet another company that I can’t support in good conscience.
Eh probably good for them anyway. Stellantis EV is hot garbage, at least in the US. I constantly have to order parts for those systems and they are not even full EV yet.
…but Global Warming Won’t Wait.
In fact it would march in strongly if everyone was magically in an EV today. Not to mention all the other pollutive issues.
You’re being downvoted but you’re right. EVs have a smaller carbon footprint than ICE, but comprehensive public transportation is the only way to meaningfully reduce transportation-related emissions.
Living in the US (or similarly car-dependent countries) will force Americans to have cars, however, and in that world EVs are marginally better than the alternative. Still not nearly enough.
This sub doesn’t really care about the environment. It’s just evangelical about 6000lb ev
… which has nothing to do with an automaker’s decision. If you want climate policy, go talk to the politicians. Businesses will supply the market if it exists, their only ideological position is money.
Capitalism can no longer ignore negative externalities that have become state level catastrophes, happening on average every 3 weeks.
Yep, and there’s no way to profitably transition to EVs without massive government support.
So instead of focusing on building a compelling product with a good user experience they want to just hope that politics allows them to be lazy? Seems like a poor business choice. Wonder if that was the route BlackBerry was hoping to take somehow. Let see if it pays off 🤷🏼♂️
He’s probably losing money on EVs and wants to minimize that loss while still holding or building marketshare. If he really thinks the odds are against incentives sticking around, then pulling back is the right choice. His predictions may not pan out, however, in which case Stellantis will continue to be shit.
I can understand the business reasons for such a decision. It’s the usual “maximize shareholder value” short-term thinking stuff.
But for any thoughtful consumer, this has to utterly wreck the possibility of ever buying a Stellantis product in the future.
It’s not even a smart business decision as it completely ignores any long-term strategy and will leave them in the dust of companies that are proactive
Oh, I agree. But I can see and appreciate the counter-argument that focusing on their existing profit center (ICE vehicles) can be a short-term win. Many in this thread are excusing their behavior precisely for this reason.
In my opinion, it will most definitely endanger the company in the long-term. And if I weren’t already strongly opposed to Stellantis, this would turn me sour to the company. But so many companies fail to plan for the long-term; pathological short-term focus is hardly exceptional.
Only the right choice for the next couple years while he’s in charge. He can make the stock price look good by saving money on R&D and CapEx, make a bunch on bonuses for improving the stock price, and retire while leaving the company in terrible shape for the future.
Typical Boomer
There is no business case for transitioning to EV’s without massive government backing. Even with it the going has been slow and costly so of course they’re all gonna pull back a bit and see what happens.
They’ll just get bailed out anyway. Their business decisions are meaningless
Who would even bail them out at this point? They’re such a weird mega merger that they cover legacy brands in 5 states.
It’s one thing for the French to bail out Citroen and Peugot but would they also want to bail out Opel and Vauxhall too? Do the Italians want to foot the bill for Fiat and Chrysler eating dirt? Plus on the American end this would be, what? The 5th time they’d be asking for a bailout and this time a good chunk of the rescue capital wouldn’t even be guaranteed to maintain jobs Stateside. At this point the doomsday scenario of 79 and 08 of just having GM strip Chrysler for parts would probably seem preferable.
“Can’t confirm a supreme court justice in election year, can’t create new EVs in an election year.” -Mitch McStellantis
“We are going to donate to conservative anti-environmental parties in the hopes that our dated products can continue to live on past their expiration date.”
I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but (using the US as an example), the GOP is clearly driven by the voters, not the other way around. Donate all you want to the party, it doesn’t matter – the politicians succeeding are the ones pandering to voters. Notice how retiring republicans keep becoming much more rational as soon as they’re no longer running for reelection.
If you want policies to change, convince GOP voters it’s in their best interest.
“We are going to donate to conservative anti-environmental parties in the hopes that our dated products can continue to live on past their expiration date.”
toyota does this subtly by harnessing the osbourne effect and promising magical, 700+ mile EVs that charge in 5 minutes or less. but that’s 10 years in the future bro buy a rav4 today!!!
I’m starting to think we may not be getting the Fiat 500e stateside.
Wouldn’t be surprised. The first one was a flop. Is there reason to believe the second attempt would be more successful?
Fun anecdote – the girlfriend of a a coworker of mine bought a 500e. Bought. As in, outright. Not a lease. Ouch, ouch, ouch. It was something like 35K as I remember. Three years later those things were going to auction at 4 grand.
The first one was a flop.
It was a compliance car. I don’t think you can really call it a flop. Also, the OG Fiat 500e is still the most fun EV I’ve driven, actually better than the gas version. 500e of the current gen is actually a top seller in several EU markets, so it’s not a flop at all.
Whether the 2nd gen 500e will sell in numbers in the US? Well, that is another story entirely.
How fascinating it is for the world to be forced to sit and wait to see if the largest arsenal and economy on the planet next year will be controlled by an Orange nazi moron.
To be fair that IS why I got mine this year. I figured why risk a $7500 rebate.
Guess what won’t be different? Our exponential trajectory towards climate doom upon failure to act regardless of politics.
This is a sensible business calculation. He may turn out correct, and Stellantis will be in a better financial position by not having to discount cars below their cost to produce. Or… he could be wrong, and Tesla will happily be there to supply the people who want EVs. CEOs have to make decisions like this all the time.
Well that’s what all these companies do. Why do you think everyone is shooting for 2030 no more ice etc etc because companies are well aware that the political climate will most likely be different by then and worse case they just say they need more time. The can will be kicked down the road for sure
Stellantis is the worst major OEM. Their build quality is abysmal, their software and infotainment are bad jokes, the whole driving experience in a Stellantis vehicle is terrible.
But opinions vary, and I suppose their top-tier vehicles might avoid some of the attributes that plague the average Stellantis (well, except for software, which is probably uniformly bad). So I can see why some people might like some Stellantis cars and trucks.
But this behavior—being a fair-weather EV company and backing off on EV plans as the political climate changes—is execrable and inexcusable. If it weren’t already, Stellantis would be dead to me.
I can’t imagine supporting an OEM that is this capricious about its commitment to EVs.
Kia/Hyundai will be happy to advance their global EV position.
I can understand why he is worried about US elections. If Trump comes to power, he will do what he can to kill EVs. Which is strange, because Trump loves coal, and all republicans say that EVs are powered by coal.
But EU? There is no chance in Hell that the political landscape in the EU changes away from EVs. It may change in specific EU countries but not in the EU as a whole.
Right wing parties are surging all over Europe, they will definitely gain a lot of seats in the next European parliament.