Stellantis contains 14 brands and some of them may die, Tesla supplies a China-made Model Y, and also senior citizens. All this and more in The Morning Shift for 19 January 2021.
1st gear: some Stellantis Marques are likely to die
Stellantis, what is who named the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Groupe PSA, contains 14 different brands. Let’s roll them out: Fiat, Chrysler, Peugeot, Opel, Jeep, Maserati, Dodge, Ram, Citroën, DS, Alfa Romeo, Vauxhall, Abarth and Lancia.
You forgot about Opel and DS, I know. This is good, this is a safe space, you can admit it. Anyway, these are a lot of brands! Probably one or more of them will die in the US, according to Automotive News. Two of the most vulnerable brands appear to be Fiat and Chrysler:
The highs of the blueprint after the merger in North America are no secret: cut out as many Aram pickups as possible and push Jeep into higher price points and new segments.
But Stellantis executives will have to figure out how the rest of FCA’s expanded brand fits into the long-term mystery and whether to cut back.
Chrysler is on two minibus nameplates and the older 300 sedan. Alfa Romeo sees signs of life – US sales grew 1.6% in a lower market last year – but the Giulia sedan and Stelvio crossover are low.
Fiat continued with its range of small cars, but the slowdown in sales continued to decline amid the pandemic and dropped by more than half last year to just 4,303 vehicles. Meanwhile, Dodge has carved out a niche as the muscle brand, but it has no electrified offer, and two of its three nameplates still in production are cars in a market that is heavily tilted to sport utility vehicles and crossovers.
Add the seven brands that PSA Group is contributing to the merger, and there seems to be some streamlining. But killing any FCA brands would not be an easy decision or process, even though almost none of the company’s dealers are single stores left in the cold.
“You have to be really smart when you think about killing a brand name as a parent company,” said Karl Brauer, executive analyst at iSeeCars.com, a used car search site. ‘I’m looking at two brands like Fiat and Chrysler. It certainly seems easy to think that they are leaving because they are not justified, given their sales volume and market share. But I also feel all the rules we would normally accept [FCA] is now different due to the merger with PSA. ”
G / O Media can get a commission
Dodge is the ‘muscle brand’. For some reason, I can not stop saying ‘muscle mark’ in my head.
2nd gear: More Stellantis
Investors like the merger. For now.
Of Reuters:
Stellantis, the carmaker combined by Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot owner PSA, had a positive start on Monday. Its shares rose 8% with their debut in the European market, valuing the company at around 42 billion euros ($ 51 billion).
[…]
“We have the scope, the resources, the variety and the knowledge to successfully take advantage of the opportunities of this new era in transportation,” Chairman John Elkann said in a video on the Borsa Italiana website to celebrate the occasion.
CEO Carlos Tavares said the merger would add 25 billion euros in value to shareholders over the years, thanks to the expected cost cuts.
“I can tell you that from day one, the focus will be on the value creation that results from the implementation of the synergies,” Tavares said in the same video.
Fiat Chrysler (FCA) and PSA said Stellantis could reduce costs by more than 5 billion euros a year without shutting down plants.
Stellantis’ $ 51 billion is a lot of money, but Tesla is currently worth almost $ 800 billion (on paper).
3rd gear: last year was the worst year for car sales in Europe on record
No one had a good year last year. Even if you did, no one wants to hear about it. The news for car manufacturers in Europe is in line with all the others.
Of Bloomberg:
European car sales fell the most last year, as demand in the second half was relatively resilient to compensate just as much for the collapse during the initial outbreak of Covid-19.
Registrations for new vehicles fell by 24%, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association said on Tuesday, the biggest annual drop since records began in 1990. A strong finish of the year for Volkswagen AG and PSA Group limited the decline in the industry to just 3.7% in December.
Carmakers have managed to better address government measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus over the course of the year, aided by subsidies and dealers using online ordering tools. But the collapse of sales in March, April and May was difficult to recover from, with the industry having a single year-round growth. In contrast, the auto market in China expanded during the second half.
4th gear: Tesla spoke to the media!
The news here is that Tesla is now delivering China-made Model Ys, but I’m more concerned with the fact that Tesla actually made a comment to the media. It was been a quiet member of the California company for a while.
Of Reuters:
Tesla Inc. said on Monday it had begun delivering its Shanghai-made Model Y sports utility vehicles to customers in China.
A representative of the American car manufacturer made the comment in response to a query from Reuters.
5th gear: in Japan there is some resignation with senior citizens and cars
Nearly a third of Japan is older than 65 and it is an ongoing debate there (and everywhere else) how old is too old to drive. Car manufacturers add safety features, and many seniors voluntarily surrender their license after a horrific accident in 2019.
Of Bloomberg:
According to the National Police Agency, 350,428 people aged 75 and older returned their driving licenses in 2019, the highest recorded.
[…]
Last year, Toyota improved its Safety Sense offering. The technology is designed to prevent or mitigate frontal collisions, as well as to keep drivers within their lane. Using high-resolution cameras on the windshield and radar on the buffer, it can detect oncoming cars or pedestrians – or even bicycles in daylight hours – and give audible and visual alerts. If drivers do not respond, braking can be done automatically. The new software also has intersection features to detect oncoming obstacles as a car turns from a stationary turn.
Other Toyota Safety Sense features include the correction of unintentional lanes, automatic switching between high and low beam at night, depending on the surrounding traffic, and the detection of slower moving cars ahead on the highway and automatic maintenance of a pre-existing set distance. Traffic signs for traffic signs detect stop and speed signs when they pass and display an alarm on the dashboard if drivers miss it themselves.
[…]
Subaru Corp. their aspirations are similar; it wants to eliminate all fatal accidents by 2030. Like several other car manufacturers, it uses stereo cameras, which have two or more lenses with a separate image sensor for each, which offers the ability to record three-dimensional images. With a view to EyeSight, technology is looking ahead and warning drivers of any danger. Subaru says vehicles equipped with Sigight are involved in 61% fewer accidents and 85% fewer rear-end collisions. Pedestrian-related injuries are reduced by 35%.
Back: Zeppelin
Neutral: how are you?
The guy across from me spends about 90 percent of his time sweeping, washing, and babying his old Chrysler hot rod. I wish I liked everything so much.