4 minute read
Brands 10 Years
Tavares gives Chrysler, other brands 10 years
Stellan s CEO Carlos Tavares says he’s aff ording each of the new company’s 14 brands a decade to execute a successful business plan.
Fiat Chrysler is no more, but Fiat and Chrysler have been given at least another decade to show they’re worth keeping around.
Stellan s CEO Carlos Tavares says he’s aff ording each of the 14 brands melded together from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA Group a 10-year window to execute a business plan.
For Chrysler, a brand in need of direc on and more products, looking to 2031 is a tall task. With a lineup of only two minivan nameplates and the aging 300 sedan, making it that far without a major infusion of metal will be diffi cult.
Interim Chrysler chief Tim Kuniskis, if he remains in the role, will have his work cut out for him in forging a game plan for the brand that will hit the century mark in 2025. But whoever has the reins in the coming years, it appears they’ll be given the opportunity to put Chrysler on a diff erent path.
Some say the brand is vulnerable and needs to fi nd a purpose. Others, including dealer council Chairman David Kelleher, believe Chrysler could use a crossover and even another car — possibly on a PSA pla orm — to fl esh out the lineup.
Don’t ‘kill what you love’
Instead of making any immediate decisions, Tavares is giving brand leaders 10 years, during which they’ll have funding along with the chance to build and carry out a long-term vision. “We love them all,” Tavares said of the brands. “You do not kill what you love.”
Brand heads will be given an opportunity to “plan for the diff erent product launches and diff erent technologies to make the brand grow, or the brand rebound, and create value for the company so they have a chance,” Tavares said last week during Automo ve News’ Congress Conversa ons series.
Tavares believes giving execu ves a decade to execute a vision is unique in the industry.
“How many brand CEOs in the world have visibility of a 10-year funding for technology and product to organize the growth?” he asked. “That’s what we are giving them so they have a chance. If they win, we will applaud. If they lose, then we’ll see what we do.”
Diversity ‘big strength’
Tavares touched on a variety of topics during the interview, including his outlook on China, the development of the merged company’s culture and how Stellan s completed the union two and a half months sooner than planned. Continued on Page 10
Continued from Page 9 Prepara ons for the blockbuster merger had to be carried out during a pandemic that upended society and forced the auto industry to adjust how it produced and sold vehicles. The FCA and PSA teams, who Tavares said were tremendously effi cient, were able to complete the e-up quicker than an cipated despite a process that included the fi ling of 12,500 documents from December 2019 to January 2021.
Four months into the merger, Stellan s’ culture is taking shape. But Tavares says it will take me to defi ne.
When a company execu ve asked him what the culture is, he answered: “One that we will select a er a few years of working together.”
Whatever emerges will be derived from diverse viewpoints gleaned from those who have operated around the globe.
This diversity, Tavares said, is a “big strength” because it gives the company “a higher capability to understand the world and understand the markets in which we are opera ng, and it also brings more diff erent ideas and angles from which we can look at the problems and make the best possible decisions for the company.”
For the me being, Tavares said, “we don’t try to fi gure out what is our culture. We just consider that being diverse is a compe ve edge, and we are happy with that.”
Regions for growth
Looking ahead, Tavares sees Africa, Asia, La n America and the Middle East as regions where Stellan s can con nue to grow.
He said the company already is strong in La n America, where it’s a market share leader, but he said it can s ll be more effi cient there. In Africa and the Middle East, Stellan s is gaining market share and has “very signifi cant plans to enhance the capability to source in the region for the region,” he said.
India is progressing, but the automaker is looking to address weakness in China.
“We are now, as you know, reengineering completely our strategy in China, as it has not been successful both for FCA and PSA in the past,” Tavares said. “So we are now nego a ng and changing very many things at core — not on the surface, but at core.”
