FCA-PSA brands: Jeep, Peugeot likely to shine; Chrysler, Alfa Romeo face uncertain futures

TURIN -- A big question is whether Stellantis -- the new company that will result from the merger of PSA Group and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles -- will be able to support all its brands in the future because of the huge investments that will be needed for electric cars, autonomous driving and connectivity.

Stellantis' top-selling brand will be Jeep, followed by Peugeot. Those brands seem safe from being axed. Fiat, the third-largest brand in the group, could have a brighter future using PSA platforms.

At risk could be Dodge, whose high-horsepower cars will come under more pressure from tougher emissions rules, and Chrysler, which has not been promised any new models. PSA's upscale DS brand and FCA's upmarket Lancia marque face uncertain futures.

Alfa Romeo may be retained but this will mean Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares, who moves to the role from his current job as PSA Group boss, will have to find a successful niche for a storied brand that inspires huge enthusiasm among auto fans but doesn't make money.

Neither PSA nor FCA has said that it plans to reduce the number of brands that will be owned by Stellantis. In an interview with Automotive News Europe in November, Tavares said the merged company will leverage its double-digit brand portfolio to compete with larger rivals such as Volkswagen Group.

The following analysis of the brands is based on January-September 2020 global sales provided by JATO Dynamics. Brands are ranked by sales.

Jeep: 860,753 sales (-23% from 2019). Status: safe

A growing global appetite for capable SUVs pushed Jeep to become Stellantis' largest brand in terms of volume and the champion in terms of absolute profits.

When Fiat merged with Chrysler in 2014, Jeep sold 1 million units and had four plants in the U.S. By 2018, Jeep's global sales had grown by more than  50 percent to 1.55 million units, with a total of 10 manufacturing facilities in the U.S., Mexico, Italy, Brazil, China and India. Its iconic model is the Wrangler, an heir to the original World War II-era Jeeps. In its latest generation, it is also available in a low-emissions plug-in hybrid variant.

A big boost to Jeep sales in Europe could come from an entry model to slot below the Renegade that FCA has announced and postponed several times. The so-called B-Jeep now seems slated for a late-2022 launch and will be underpinned by PSA's CMP platform and built in Poland.

Jeep will expand its reach in the U.S. and in China with the new Wagoneer/Grand Wagoneer. Production begins in the second quarter of 2021 for the pair of body-on-frame premium-level SUVs. The three-row vehicles will go up against the likes of the GMC Yukon and Lincoln Navigator. 

Peugeot: 764,720 sales (-29%). Status: safe

The "P" in PSA has a history that dates back more than 200 years. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810 to manufacture coffee mills and bicycles.

The Peugeot group remained under family control until February 2014, when to stave off financial collapse it accepted a capital hike in which Dongfeng Motor of China and the French government bought 14 percent stakes for about 800 million euros each. The Peugeot family stake was consequently reduced to 14 percent; it will have a stake of about 7 percent in Stellantis.

The majority of Peugeot sales are in Europe, where it is the No. 3-selling brand after Volkswagen and Renault. Peugeot has renewed its product portfolio in recent years to emphasize SUVs and crossovers, with the next major launch being a new generation of the 308 compact, set to appear in late 2021.

Fiat: 760,541 sales (-24%). Status: repositioning needed

The namesake brand of the Italian side of FCA turned 121 years old last July. It has substantial manufacturing and sales operations in Europe and Latin America, two regions strongly affected by the pandemic. The brand has abandoned China and is fading in the United States, where sales through September halved to a mere 3,569 units.

Starved of investments for more than a decade, the Fiat brand currently has uneven market coverage. With the Panda and 500, it dominates Europe's minicar segment. It has no entry in the small and midsize segments, although it competes in the compact segment with the Tipo. Its crossover and minivan entries, the 500X and 500L, are sized between small and compact segments.

Stellantis could decide to fill out Fiat's lineup, which could increase potential intra-group cannibalization with Citroen, Opel/Vauxhall and Peugeot, or completely reposition the brand.

Fiat brand CEO Olivier Francois has long described Fiat brand as having two souls: the practical side, the strength of the Panda; and the stylish, as seen in the near-premium pricing of the 500 hatchback.  

FCA CEO Mike Manley has said that the company will abandon the low-margin minicar segment, suggesting that it will try to move buyers up to the small car segment. 

The battery-electric New 500 is a small car in terms of size. Other small and compact models will be launched based on PSA's CMP architecture, starting with a model inspired by the Centoventi concept unveiled in March 2019.

Fiat also sells high-performance versions of the 500 under the Abarth subbrand, mainly in Europe.

Ram: 526,966 sales (-15%). Status: safe

The Ram brand is probably the biggest surprise of 2020. Thanks to the resilience of the U.S. market and to buoyant sales of pickups, Ram was the brand with the smallest decline within the future Stellantis, falling just 15 percent in the first nine months of 2020, while the pro-forma merged group declined by 28 percent. 

Together with Jeep, Ram is the profit driver of FCA's North America region, which in a normal quarter delivers about 2 billion euros in operating profit, equivalent to an operating margin of more than 10 percent. 

The American nameplate had been used for Dodge pickup models before becoming a stand-alone brand under former FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne in 2009. 

Citroen: 507,800 sales (-33%). Status: safe

Founded in 1919 and part of PSA since 1976, Citroen has almost completed a strategic repositioning focusing on comfort and ease of use. 
Newer models include the small C3 and the compact C4 -- which has a battery-electric variant -- and the C3 and C5 Aircross crossovers.

Citroen sells most of its models in Europe and was hit hard by the regional slowdown due to the pandemic, with global volumes declining by a third through September. It is due to launch a model for the Indian market next year.

Opel/Vauxhall: 443,160 sales (-40%). Status: safe

With its sister British brand Vauxhall, Opel is the latest addition to PSA's stable after the French group bought it from GM in 2017.

Last year was difficult for Opel/Vauxhall, which was hit by the pandemic in the midst of two crucial model launches: the Corsa small car and the Mokka small crossover, both based on PSA underpinnings.

From January to September, Opel/Vauxhall's global sales declined by 40 percent, although some of that was due to the discontinuation of several GM-based models in 2019.

Opel is expected to launch a new generation of the Astra compact, based on PSA's EMP2 architecture, by the end of the year. That will leave the Insignia midsize sedan and wagon as the only legacy models from the GM era.

Dodge: 237,422 sales (-39%). Status: at risk

The American brand is focused on performance models and mainly sells in the U.S., where cars have been losing ground to SUVs and pickups, and now represent less than a quarter of the market.

The incoming Biden administration is expected to push for stricter CAFE standards that will put Dodge's high-horsepower (and high-emissions) models -- the Charger large sedan, the Challenger coupe and the Durango large SUV -- at risk of compliance.

Dodge was one of the worst performers within Stellantis last year, with sales down 39 percent in the January to September period.

Chrysler: 79,021 sales (-12%). Status: at risk

The namesake brand of the North American side of FCA is quietly fading away. It offers just three models, the 300 large sedan and two minivans -- the Pacifica and the Voyager -- that are in segments that are shrinking year after year in the U.S. FCA did not announce any new models for Chrysler in its five-year plan unveiled in June 2018.

Alfa Romeo: 41,116 sales (-39%). Status: needs rethink

Alfa Romeo had been a consistent problem, first at Fiat and then at FCA. The last three attempts to relaunch the Italian brand failed badly. Founded in 1910 and bought by Fiat in 1986, Alfa Romeo has been a money loser for almost a quarter of a century. 

Alfa Romeo's range has been reduced to just the Giulia midsize sedan and Stelvio midsize SUV. The brand's global sales from January to September declined by 39 percent to a mere 41,116 units.

A small SUV and a compact SUV will be added, the latter previewed by the Tonale concept displayed at the 2019 Geneva auto show and due in early 2022. The small SUV is one of the three models FCA will build in Poland using PSA's CMP architecture and could arrive in 2023.

DS Automobiles: 32,777 sales (-18%). Status: uncertain

PSA unveiled DS Automobiles as a stand-alone upscale brand in 2014. At that time DS only sold variants of Citroen models. The DS name is an homage to Citroen's legendary flagship sedan, and PSA hoped that it would evoke an image of French luxury and design, especially among Chinese buyers.

But sales fell sharply until 2018, when the first model created specifically for the brand, the DS 7 Crossback compact SUV, was introduced. It was then joined by the DS 3 Crossback small SUV, the DS 9 flagship sedan. The DS 4 compact is due to be revealed in early 2021.

Tavares and DS executives say the brand is profitable despite selling small volumes, but an open question is whether Stellantis can afford to continue to invest to make DS a global success, or if that money would be better spent on Alfa Romeo, which has a stronger heritage and is also distributed in North America.

Lancia: 29,393 sales (-36%). Status: likely to disappear

A one-model brand sold in just one market with the Ypsilon in Italy, Lancia did not have a defined future in FCA's latest business plan, unveiled in June 2018. Within Stellantis, it also clashes with the same near-premium positioning of DS.

Lancia's fortunes began to decline a decade ago when Fiat drastically reduced its pipeline of new models. An attempt to rebadge Chrysler models as Lancias in Europe brought only limited sales, and the Ypsilon has remained Lancia's sole model since 2016.

Maserati: 11,456 sales (-40%). Status: safe

Maserati is the only truly luxury brand within Stellantis. It was born as a racecar maker in Bologna, Italy, in 1914 and bought by Fiat in 1989.

Maserati will pursue a stand-alone strategy unveiled in September, with a complete renewal and full electrification of the range by 2024, when sales are planned to exceed 75,000 units a year.

At the unveiling of the MC20 high-performance coupe in September, Manley said that Maserati would keep its role within Stellantis, but given the brand's luxury positioning, it could have limited synergies with other group brands.

Volume brands do not generate margins hefty enough to pay for systems and components to be shared with a luxury brand, Manley added.

Maserati's next new product, the Grecale midsize SUV, seems to be an exception. It is based on Alfa Romeo Stelvio's underpinnings and will be built at the same plant in Cassino, central Italy.  

Peter Sigal contributed to this report