$9.1bn slide: Car giant hits the wall

One of the world’s biggest car companies has hit the skids, as it haemorrhages money, sales, its share price and plenty of good will.

Jeep parent company Stellantis has recorded a stunning drop in profit following a tough year for the car making conglomerate.

According to the company’s full year results for 2024 released on Wednesday in the UK, Stellantis was hit with a mind-numbing 70 per cent drop in profit over the 12 month period and a halving of its share price as the company continues its search for a new boss.

Reported net profit was down €5.5 billion ($9.14bn), Net revenues were down €156.9 billion, or 17 per cent compared to 2023,

The company laid the blame on “temporary gaps in product offerings, as well as now-complete inventory reduction initiatives”.

MORE: Stellantis chief executive quits

Former Stellantis chief executive Carlos Tavares. Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP

Stellantis is a huge company that includes American brands Jeep, Ram and Chrysler, France’s Citroen and Peugeot and Italy’s Fiat, Abarth, Alfa Romeo and Maserati, and China’s electric Leapmotor.

In a statement Stellantis chairman John Elkann seemed to gloss over the massive losses to say the future outlook for the company via its electric division remained optimistic.

“While 2024 was a year of stark contrasts for the Company, with results falling short of our potential, we achieved important strategic milestones,” he said.

“Notably, we began the rollout of new multi-energy platforms and products, which continues in 2025, started production of EV batteries through our JVs, and launched the Leapmotor International partnership. We are firmly focused on gaining market share and improving financial performance as 2025 progresses.”

Stellantis was hit with a mind-numbing 70 per cent drop in profit. Picture: AFP

AUSSIE TROUBLES FOR MOTOR GIANT

The massive car manufacturer had endured an annus horribilis in 2024.

Its chief executive, Carlos Tavares, stepped down in December after a battle with Jeep dealers in America who were not on board with the company’s drive for electrification.

A letter published by Jeep’s dealer council in the US accused Tavares of overseeing the “rapid degradation of our iconic American brands” as the company pushed up prices and deleted popular models including V8-powered versions of the Grand Cherokee.

Sales in Australia have tanked across the board.

Stellantis’ presence in Australia is divided between local distribution arms directly tied to manufacturers (Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Jeep and Leapmotor) and independent importers such as ATECO (Ram and Maserati) or Inchcape (Peugeot).

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Stellantis has added Leapmotor to its portfolio.

Stellantis brands Citroen, Chrysler, DS, Dodge and Opel have stopped selling cars in Australia.

Fearing a similar fate, Australian Jeep dealers have reportedly contracted legal representation to review the potential for a lawsuit against Stellantis.

Carsales recently published an email between a Jeep dealer and HWL Ebsworth lawyers stating “Stellantis has slowly been strangling the network” and that it has “deliberately been negligent in serving the Australian market in order to exit without having to pay compensation” to dealers who invested millions of dollars in showrooms for the brand.

MORE: Jeep dealers lash out over falling sales

Jeep has slashed around $20,000 from the price of its Grand Cherokee.

A spokeswoman for Jeep said “the Jeep brand remains fully committed to the Australian market and Stellantis continues to invest heavily in its global product portfolio”.

Having driven up prices following booming growth a decade ago, Jeep has slashed the cost of several models by around $20,000 to re-coup sales.

The company has launched a compact EV locally in the Jeep Avenger and is set to follow that with an electric mid-sized SUV in the Jeep Wagoneer S.

Jeep dealers have called for the return of “Hemi” V8-powered models discontinued by Tavares, who pushed for a greener line-up in showrooms.

The company has also come under fire for pop-up ads in American models with satellite radio subscriptions, with owners complaining about commercial messages shown on cars’ central touchscreens.

#Stellantis: our #Jeep brand seems to be having problems selling cars. We need to step up! Meanwhile let's do a full screen pop-up #ads on infotainment whenever Jeep comes to a stop. More revenue, hooray! #enshittificationhttps://t.co/JE1xktyc71pic.twitter.com/DGQXkSIqa1

— Max Smolev (@bugabuga) February 11, 2025

Originally published as $9.1bn slide: Car giant hits the wall