Stellantis’s Jeep Woes

[JL.FR]

Nissan wanted to lock itself in Japan and do as in the good old days of its glory. They just have to ask Carlos Ghosn and Renault / Dacia to save them. But I don't think anyone will move an toe for them!

Sponsored

 

[Craigger]

Nissan wanted to lock itself in Japan and do as in the good old days of its glory. They just have to ask Carlos Ghosn and Renault / Dacia to save them. But I don't think anyone will move an toe for them!

Yeah, Nissan's been missing the mark. When they re-introduced the Z they wanted to pay homage to so many past iterations that it looks like a Frankenstein car. It seems like the market for that car would have been those who wanted a fun-to-drive manual sports car but they ended up with something that weighs 800 lbs more than the Subaru BRZ (and costs $10K more).

I had an old-generation Pathfinder with a solid axle and manual transmission. Loved that old thing and took it on trails it had no business being on.

 

[jbcrane]

Back to Stellantis for a moment...
After watching a AI-generated 'exposé' last night (needlessly repetitively) outlining Stellantis' woes, I wondered... what's to stop Jeep from spinning off into its own "automaker?" I get that Jeep is the goose that lays the golden egg, and Stellantis seems to rely on revenue generated by Jeep sales to prop up the other less profitable brands.
But why does Jeep need to have one of the big 3 automakers hovering over it saying what it can and can't do?
Seems they've been around long enough and have (had...) a loyal enough following/customer base they'd be able to (not to push the goose metaphor too far) find an open window and say..."'adios... I'm outa here... hangin out my own shingle... gonna build me a new nest..." something like that?
It may be a naive question given I don't pretend to understand the financial politics of gigantic corporations like those of the "Big 3 Automakers."
But man, I hate to see an iconic brand get run into the ground by people who don't know what they're doing/get the brand.

 

[JL.FR]

The history of Jeep, which is a concept at the beginning and not a brand, has always been linked to manufacturers, never independent. Batam-Willys-Ford at the beginning for WW2 and when peace returned Kaiser-Frazer, AMC, Renault, Chrysler, Mercedes, Fiat, Stellantis. But Jeep still exists !!!

 

[Bryce]

Tavares has resigned
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/stellantis-ceo-carlos-tavares-resigns-192211706.html

 

[JL.FR]

It is not getting any better in Europe, Peugeot/Citröen/Opel/Fiat/Alfa-Romeo are faced with the decisions of politicians to electrify automobiles. And there are serious reliability problems that do not correspond to the level of car prices. Happy retirement Tavares ...

 

[Squibbles]

Yeah, Nissan's been missing the mark. When they re-introduced the Z they wanted to pay homage to so many past iterations that it looks like a Frankenstein car. It seems like the market for that car would have been those who wanted a fun-to-drive manual sports car but they ended up with something that weighs 800 lbs more than the Subaru BRZ (and costs $10K more).

I had an old-generation Pathfinder with a solid axle and manual transmission. Loved that old thing and took it on trails it had no business being on.

I mean it has considerably more power than the BRZ so I wouldn’t mind the weight. Unfortunately that extra 11k only gets you some more power, then it’s another 10k if you want a limited slip and nicer interior, then goes up to 59k or for the heritage package 65k. BRZ maxes out at 36k so after dealer mark up on a fully loaded not even special edition Z is twice the price of a BRZ.

 

[Tredsdert]

If they sell Jeep I guarantee you will not like the new owners any better. I can guarantee you that the new owner will make things even worse. A new owner is going to want to "shake things up" and will burn it all down then go bankrupt leaving no Jeep at all.

Unless the new owner is Toyota. Toyota seems to be making good choices for the future.

Though I highly doubt Toyota would be interested in buying Jeep, as they have nothing to gain from it. In fact they benefit more from the brand going under. As they will be really the only off-road capable brand left in the United States. We all know broncos break the second they hit the trail.

 

[autotragic]

Unless the new owner is Toyota. Toyota seems to be making good choices for the future.

Though I highly doubt Toyota would be interested in buying Jeep, as they have nothing to gain from it. In fact they benefit more from the brand going under. As they will be really the only off-road capable brand left in the United States. We all know broncos break the second they hit the trail.

Toyota's break CV shafts all the time.

 

[Tredsdert]

Toyota's break CV shafts all the time.

All the people who I know who own Toyotas, when they break apart or something goes wrong, they're usually off of the lot within a week at max. They're not sitting at the dealership waiting for a part or a fix for weeks or months like which is what happens with Jeeps.

While I don't believe all the hype that Toyota's are necessarily super reliable today like they were in the past, they definitely sure do a good job of fixing them in a timely manner over at the Toyota dealerships.

Something Jeep needs to start aspiring for.

My sister-in-law bought a 2024 4XE back in March. Over the last 8 months their Wrangler has spent five of those months on the dealership lot waiting for work to be done. In fact the last 3 months they've been in a rental waiting for the dealership to figure out what's wrong with their 4xe Wrangler.


Toyota owning the Jeep brand would be a massive upgrade!

 

[JL.FR]

You're joking. No Japanese (Asian) is interested in Chrysler/Jeep, they already have too many problems at home and with the rise of Chinese manufacturers.
Jeep is only profitable in the short term. All (many) owners prior to Stellantis (including Fiat) know this and got rid of it before losing money.

 

[Ratbert]

Toyota's break CV shafts all the time.

Their independent front suspension is incredibly wimpy.

I've wheeled with a group of Toyotas (didn't realize it when sometime forwarded a screenshot of the event) and they all had spare parts with them. They know exactly what's likey to break. And it does. And they had to do those repairs on the trail. And, of course, we had to wait for those two (yes, two) rigs to be fixed.

So yes, when you break your Toyota on the trail it's likely to be specific things that fall. And yes, someone in your group will most likely have that part and lots of experience replacing it.

With our rigs and our much more durable suspensions, however, the failures are going to be significantly more of an unknown.

 

[JL.FR]

I don't understand, you are talking about Toyota here and their problems. What is the relationship with Stellantis and Jeep ?

 

[Ratbert]

I don't understand, you are talking about Toyota here and their problems. What is the relationship with Stellantis and Jeep ?

If you're replying to me (there's a button for that) then the discussion about Toyota is due to someone mentioning it as a potential desirable buyer.

 

[BXFXJeep]

This sounds like what people are saying about Stellantis

Sponsored