In a letter, the president of the American Stellantis Dealers Council heavily criticized the group’s CEO Carlos Tavares, accusing him of damaging its brands with wrong strategies. The company decided to respond with a statement.
Stellantis’ response to the criticisms of Kevin Farrish, president of the Dealers Council
“We absolutely distance ourselves from the letter sent by the president of the Stellantis National Dealer Council (NDC), Kevin Farrish. Last month, we introduced an action plan developed with the dealer body that has already shown results. August sales increased by 21 percent compared to July, market share increased by 0.7 points, and dealer inventory was reduced for two consecutive months by 42,000 units or about 10 percent in total,” Stellantis stated.
“This is the result of collaboration with our dealer network, and we want to thank them for their constant support and commitment. We meet and talk monthly, have weekly calls, and personal conversations at the highest level. This is where such dialogue should take place,” the automotive Group adds.
“At Stellantis, we do not believe that public personal attacks, like the one in the NDC president’s open letter against our CEO Carlos Tavares, are the most effective way to solve problems. We have started a journey that will prove to be successful. We will continue to work with our dealers to avoid any public controversy that will delay our ability to deliver results,” Stellantis concludes.
Tensions worsened when several Group dealers, in addition to criticizing the strategy that includes prices too high compared to the competition, sued Stellantis for not allowing them to transfer the license and sell the dealership. In short, Stellantis in the United States has a problem on all fronts.