Among many, many problems facing Stellantis is one simple, unfortunate truth: Too many of the automaker’s cars simply cost too much. Its pissed off dealers and turned away customers.
CNN reported on the automakers pricing woes. Data provided to CNN from Edmunds shows that at the end of 2023, Stellantis has the highest average vehicle price in the industry at $58,000.
By the fourth quarter of 2023, the average Stellantis vehicle sold for $58,000 in the US, according to data from Edmunds, by far the highest in the industry. While Stellantis’ average price has declined since then, it was still the second highest average price in the industry, at just under $55,000 in the third quarter. That was just behind Ford Motor, including its luxury brand Lincoln.
Nowhere is this pricing problem more apparent than at Jeep. The brand has just one model that starts under $30,000; the Compass. Models like the Grand Cherokee start way over $40,000. Some, like the recently introduced electric Wagoneer S and other Wagoneer models, start close to, if not outright crest the six-figure mark. This pricing hurts modes like the Gladiator, once one of the most anticipated models on the market.
A search of Jeep’s site shows only a few Gladiators with a sticker price below $40,000 nationwide, none for less than $39,790. Sticker prices for some Gladiators on dealer lots now go as high as $72,000. Gladiator sales have fallen steadily from the 2020 peak as a result and are down another 21% so far this year. Jeep overall has become a shell of its former self, with sales down 36% from before the pandemic. Stellantis managed to turn off customers to what was one of the hottest and most desirable brands by jacking up prices and mismanaging its lineup.
Even with heavy discounts, Gladiators are now sitting at dealers across the country; A quick search shows there’s over 10,000 new Gladiators currently for sale. Dealers, of course, are pissed, so much so that the Stellantis’ dealer council recently sent a letter to the automakers board of directors to warn them of what’s happening.
“We are writing this letter on behaf of the entire US dealer network and its employees,” the letter began. “The intent of this letter is to sound an alarm – an alarm not only to you, but to the Stellantis board of directors, your employees, your investors, and suppliers.”
The Stellantis National Dealer Council had been pleading with the company behind the scenes for two years already, the letter said. The company was headed for disaster – not just for the dealers themselves, but for everyone involved.
“Now, that disaster has arrived,” the letter said.
Dealers are wanting cheaper products to sell with more differentiation. Kevin Farris, head of Stellantis’ dealer council, is hoping the automaker offers something more affordable like a smaller pickup. “Personally, I’d love to see them produce a smaller size pickup for the Ram brand so we can compete for bulk of the market,” he told CNN. Even with something cheaper, Farris thinks it’ll be an uphill battle for the automaker to gain back market share in segments it abandoned. “It’ll be hard to get back the market share they had. A lot of the products we used to sell a lot of are not being produced today.”