Stellantis is focused on reclaiming the past success of the Jeep brand and is considering fresh investments into Dodge, which could result in a new Dodge V8 muscle car, and possibly even the Chrysler brand in the long term, some of the people said. Talks are ongoing, no final decision has been made and the amount and targeted projects could still change, the people said.
The new spending reflects efforts by Chief Executive Officer Antonio Filosa, who was appointed to the top job in May, to recalibrate investments across regions, the people said. Under former CEO Carlos Tavares, Stellantis had aggressively pushed to shift its production and engineering operations to lower-cost countries like Mexico. He also invested heavily in Europe, where car demand is weak and profitability low, in the years that followed the group’s 2021 creation.
“As part of the preparations for the company’s strategy update and capital markets day next year, the CEO is leading a thorough evaluation of all future investments. This process is ongoing,” a media representative said in emailed comments, declining to elaborate further.
Filosa, an industry veteran from Stellantis’ predecessor company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, is struggling to stabilize a group that’s suffered steep market share losses in the US and Europe following a series of strategic missteps under Tavares. He’s also trying to navigate the fallout from Trump’s tariffs, which are reshaping the global automotive landscape.
Some of those efforts are starting to pay off, with a gain in third-quarter US deliveries that helped fuel investor optimism on Thursday.
Filosa is scheduled to meet Italian labor union representatives on Oct. 20 as worries about possible plant closings mount. Late last year, the company presented an ambitious production plan for Italy, which adds pressure on Filosa to make good on those pledges.
