Thanks for the good article. I worked for Chrysler from 2017 through 2021. Tavares was in an unfortunate position of not being an engineer, and also not having the personality of Sergio Marchionne. People worshiped Sergio. Nobody who followed Sergio would have had an easy road, but Tavares was standoffish. He visited us at CTC once during a wild wheels event that we held for the employees. It was outdoors, because it was still during the pandemic. Tavares spoke to nobody who wore a UAW uniform. He spoke only to other executives.
It’s sad the dealers don’t have the courage to speak on the record.
Dear Laura, Thank you for sharing your experience and perspective. It enhances my reporting and helps me learn more. My God, Sergio was a legend. I can't fathom any exec ignoring factory workers who actually put the vehicles together. It's a contrast to my years covering Ford, where Bill Ford and other execs would cross the room to greet the UAW workers -- and then publicly thank them at opportunities where organized labor wasn't being discussed. As for car dealers, I'm grateful they trust me to talk with me. I review all quotes with sources for accuracy -- even when sources are unnamed. I've found that all dealers worry about being punished by the automakers that supply them with vehicles. They can get more or fewer of what they want or need just because.
This is long overdue. There is going to be some serious unwinding with a dose of everybody’s favorite “Creative Destruction”. As a lifelong Detroiter, the struggles of the industry are normal, but the Stellantis story is particularly difficult.
My hypothesis is that Stellantis is a victim of French Technocratic central control management culture in which all decisions for any market on the globe are made at the top in Paris even though there is no possible way that they could truly know and appreciate the nuances of each individual market. There is no significant Jeep/Bronco or Muscle Car segment in France upon which to base centralized decisions and even if there were the preferences of the french customers would differ form that of American customers.
I question whether Stellantis can be saved, but if it can it will require going to a very decentralized management structure focus on each regional market separately. But that would be to antithetical to French technocratic culture I can't see any such shift succeeding.
Thanks for the good article. I worked for Chrysler from 2017 through 2021. Tavares was in an unfortunate position of not being an engineer, and also not having the personality of Sergio Marchionne. People worshiped Sergio. Nobody who followed Sergio would have had an easy road, but Tavares was standoffish. He visited us at CTC once during a wild wheels event that we held for the employees. It was outdoors, because it was still during the pandemic. Tavares spoke to nobody who wore a UAW uniform. He spoke only to other executives.
It’s sad the dealers don’t have the courage to speak on the record.
Dear Laura, Thank you for sharing your experience and perspective. It enhances my reporting and helps me learn more. My God, Sergio was a legend. I can't fathom any exec ignoring factory workers who actually put the vehicles together. It's a contrast to my years covering Ford, where Bill Ford and other execs would cross the room to greet the UAW workers -- and then publicly thank them at opportunities where organized labor wasn't being discussed. As for car dealers, I'm grateful they trust me to talk with me. I review all quotes with sources for accuracy -- even when sources are unnamed. I've found that all dealers worry about being punished by the automakers that supply them with vehicles. They can get more or fewer of what they want or need just because.
This is long overdue. There is going to be some serious unwinding with a dose of everybody’s favorite “Creative Destruction”. As a lifelong Detroiter, the struggles of the industry are normal, but the Stellantis story is particularly difficult.
"As a lifelong Detroiter, the struggles of the industry are normal, but the Stellantis story is particularly difficult." ~ Amen.
My hypothesis is that Stellantis is a victim of French Technocratic central control management culture in which all decisions for any market on the globe are made at the top in Paris even though there is no possible way that they could truly know and appreciate the nuances of each individual market. There is no significant Jeep/Bronco or Muscle Car segment in France upon which to base centralized decisions and even if there were the preferences of the french customers would differ form that of American customers.
I question whether Stellantis can be saved, but if it can it will require going to a very decentralized management structure focus on each regional market separately. But that would be to antithetical to French technocratic culture I can't see any such shift succeeding.
We’ll see how things unfold.
I Pitty the Fool who takes on the job next. They will become a victim of their own narcissistic hubris.