Stellantis dealers near record profitability despite lower sales

Stellantis’ U.S. dealers had their second-best year of profitability ever in 2022, even as sales fell 13 percent, a top executive with the automaker said Friday.

That increased profitability and a surge in Stellantis’ J.D. Power sales satisfaction scores gave the company and its dealers plenty to be excited about despite the production constraints that kept inventory tight, said Jeff Kommor, head of U.S. sales.

It was a "good year on volume overall for our sales, so I'm proud of that, and we're looking to do more this year," Kommor told Automotive News after the Stellantis make meeting. "We're looking for a pretty significant increase in the market share improvement as everybody is."

The meeting also touched on the continued effort to give the Jeep brand more exclusivity, Kommor said. Many Stellantis dealers have been adding separate Jeep showrooms and standalone Jeep stores.

"We've got a lot of dealers that have broken ground — hundreds have already made it to completion — and we see their profitability and their sales are even better as well as they make the investment," Kommor said. "We want to share that with the group as we look for more investments in these Jeep standalone facilities and ultimately start bringing out more Wagoneer products in the portfolio as well."

He said the latest of those new products — the longer-wheelbase “L” models — entered production last week.

Many of the questions asked at the make meeting were about EVs, Kommor said, noting that 86 percent of dealers have signed a framework agreement for electrification. Stellantis does not plan to publicize specific dollar amounts that dealers will need to invest, as General Motors and Ford Motor Co. have done. Costs will vary by store.

"The dealers know what they need to do to transition," Kommor said. "Electrification is coming. I don't need to tell them what they have to spend."