2024 was an extremely negative year for Stellantis. A study published by Kerrigan Advisors about U.S. dealers’ sentiment confirms this assessment. It’s a real blow to the already shaky reputation of the Italian-French automaker, as survey participants indicated that Stellantis, or more specifically the combined Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram (CDJR) brand, was the least reliable of all, taking this not-so-positive record from Ford.
Stellantis takes a record from Ford: too bad it’s not a positive one
Following the recall battle of 2024, which saw significant growth for the Italian-French automotive group, Stellantis now adds a new distinction: that of being the least reliable brand operating in the U.S. market. This title was awarded by dealers across the federal territory, who specifically pointed to the combined Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram brand as an example of poor reliability.
Ford lost leadership in this particular ranking compiled by Kerrigan Advisors, but it’s highly doubtful that the Blue Oval’s management is tearing their hair out over this news. This comes at the same time as Jeep published its sales data for the recently concluded year. The result was very negative, considering the 9% loss in registrations compared to 2023.
In this context, the dealers’ lack of confidence in Stellantis’ most popular brands in the United States isn’t particularly surprising. This sentiment can be considered the result of management instability evidenced by Carlos Tavares’ resignation and fluctuations in dealer supplies.
To compile the dealer confidence report, Kerrigan Advisors enlisted more than 635 dealers to participate in an anonymous survey. The study aims to evaluate dealers’ confidence in auto manufacturers regarding the potential profitability of their franchises.
When a brand receives too low confidence from dealers, some locations might close, ultimately harming the automaker’s ability to sell cars. Unlike JD Power’s consumer-oriented studies, Kerrigan’s confidence metric evaluates the sometimes complex relationship between manufacturer and dealer.
What should worry Stellantis most is the trend shown by the survey. In the study conducted twelve months earlier, 39% of respondents had declared no confidence in CDJR. This year, that figure nearly doubled to 72%. Kerrigan didn’t cite specific reasons for the loss of confidence. However, many commentators believe the departure of the popular Hemi V8 and Stellantis’ administrative problems likely impacted the survey.
Ford, meanwhile, is moving in the opposite direction. While the Michigan automaker had accumulated 48% dealer distrust a year earlier, this year the figure decreased by eleven percentage points. This pushed the Blue Oval out of the top three, surpassed by Infiniti, Nissan, and Lincoln.