Ford rival Stellantis – like many automakers these days – is facing its fair share of issues, ranging from ballooning inventory to weak demand to soaring inflation, and now, tariffs on imported vehicles and select parts. Prior to much of that even hampering its business, Stellantis was also dealing with tremendous backlash from dealers concerned with the company’s recent product line changes, which involved the elimination of some top-selling models and introduction of ones that haven’t, well, exactly performed well thus far. Thus, we’ve seen some high-profile moves from Stellantis in an attempt to right the ship, but it seems that a rumored merger isn’t among them.
Rumors that Stellantis was considering a merger with Renault first surfaced last October, at which time both automakers denied them, but have recently begun to pop back up amid the company’s various struggles. However, according to Reuters, there’s apparently no truth to those rumors whatsoever. “We are not discussing any merger,” Stellantis Chairman John Elkann said at the FT Future of the Car Summit in London, where he appeared alongside Renault CEO Luca de Meo.
As many are already aware, Stellantis came to be as the result of a merger between Fiat-Chrysler and France-based PSA Group back in 2021. Over the past year or so, that company has faced all sorts of financial woes that ultimately led to the ouster of its former CEO, Carlos Tavares, and even though it has put planned layoffs on hold – at least for now – that automaker also opted to offer broad buyouts to some of its United Auto Workers (UAW) employees recently.
Along with those moves and selling off its Arizona Proving Grounds, which the automaker previously purchased from Ford, Stellantis has been rumored to be in the midst of bringing V8 power back to models like the Ram 1500 and Charger, which previously ditched that sort of powerplant, and has reportedly revived plans to build a new mid-size pickup, too.
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That would be going from bad to worse.