Alfa Romeo Tonale mule caught on the road

[Bili]

Having all the European Mass mainstream brands to share showroom with Jeep is what the Stellantis dealer base in Europe expects(from all reports) as well as behaving as a Agent.

No, it doesn't make sense if they can't show all of the available car models in a single showroom.

 

[AlexB]

No, it doesn't make sense if they can't show all of the available car models in a single showroom.

I’m not saying it makes sense,nor do I agree with.
But from all reports from analyst-to-dealer trade sources Carlos is moving to Jeep-Peugeot-FIAT-Opel/Vauxhall-Citroen combo European dealerships by the 2026.
Same with Premium brands Alfa-DS-Lancia.

 

[Deckard Cain]

I do not expect combined showrooms for the mainstream brands. To me it makes no sense to put a Opel Corsa, Peugeot 208, Citroen C3 and a Fiat Punto in one space.
PSA/Tavares could have brought the Peugeot and Citroen brand dealernetworks together for more than 30 years and they've always kept them seperate. In my opinion for good reason. All these brands will again become/remain full line brands. If you cannot afford to have a full line of vehicles for all your brands it makes sense to combine them in one showroom, this happened to some success in the US with the CDJR dealerships.
Now in a stronger position you see FCA trying to move to seperate showrooms for Jeep. They started since 2017 with pushing for seperate Jeep showrooms in all non-rural markets. When the Wagoneer was presented they said that only dealers with seperate Jeep showrooms would be able to sell Wagoneers it was 1 of the conditions. They said at that time there allready were 600 seperate Jeep showrooms in the U.S..
I think this expansion of seperate Jeep showrooms will give room to finally get additional nameplates for Dodge, Ram and Chrysler. Jeep right now is at 10 nameplates and more are coming. CDR right now are at 9 nameplates. (Toyota 16, Ford 15, Kia 12, Chevrolet 19, Hyundai 13, Nissan 18, Honda 11, VW 9, Subaru 8)
Peugeot, Citroen, Opel and Fiat all have more than 10 different nameplates in their showroom they compete directly with each other.
You must remember that people and businesses buy an Opel Combo because it's a German car with German engineering and workmanship.
Combining them in one showroom would be the fastest way to lose a great deal of their current marketshare.
For the premium brands you are talking right now about 7 nameplates in total (4 DS, 2 Alfa, 1 Lancia). If all goes well this number will max out in 8 years in about 16 nameplates. The number of showrooms will be relatively limited and i think they will be able to give each of the 3 brands sufficient room to grow together keeping their own identity.

I really hope they don't place DS and Alfa in the same floor. Usually DS has its own separate floor from the other PSA brands. I hope that if they pair Alfa with DS that they demand for some degree of physical separation between the floors.

 

[jorisr]

I’m not saying it makes sense,nor do I agree with.
But from all reports from analyst-to-dealer trade sources Carlos is moving to Jeep-Peugeot-FIAT-Opel/Vauxhall-Citroen combo European dealerships by the 2026.
Same with Premium brands Alfa-DS-Lancia.

They want to work with dealergroups that offer all Stellantis brands and services. They do not want combined showrooms. Do you honestly think they want to have showrooms with 40+ different nameplates. It would be insane.
Stellantis prides itself on having a very diverse offer of brands, they know very well that the showroom experience is part of the brand experience.
I have not seen or heard anything about a combined showroom for the mainstream brands let alone adding Jeep to them.
The average showroom in Europe is much smaller than in the US, so not only is this idea insane it would also be physically impossible.
When i read or hear something that does not make sense on any level, i dissmiss it.
Stellantis wants the dealergroups that now only have seperate showrooms for 2 or 3 of the brands to add seperate showrooms for the other 2 or 3 brands to get a more efficiently run salesnetwork. On the backend of the dealer, with service, maintenance, parts, education of employees, the online experience etc having dealergroups that offer all brands makes a lot of sense but the showrooms should be seperate as it is part of the brand experience.
I expect the premium brands to get seperate space with dedicated salespeople within a shared building. With their low salesvolume and limited number of different nameplates this should be physically doable and it would bring cost down and efficiency up.

 

[Deckard Cain]

They want to work with dealergroups that offer all Stellantis brands and services. They do not want combined showrooms. Do you honestly think they want to have showrooms with 40+ different nameplates. It would be insane.
Stellantis prides itself on having a very diverse offer of brands, they know very well that the showroom experience is part of the brand experience.
I have not seen or heard anything about a combined showroom for the mainstream brands let alone adding Jeep to them.
The average showroom in Europe is much smaller than in the US, so not only is this idea insane it would also be physically impossible.
When i read or hear something that does not make sense on any level, i dissmiss it.
Stellantis wants the dealergroups that now only have seperate showrooms for 2 or 3 of the brands to add seperate showrooms for the other 2 or 3 brands to get a more efficiently run salesnetwork. On the backend of the dealer, with service, maintenance, parts, education of employees, the online experience etc having dealergroups that offer all brands makes a lot of sense but the showrooms should be seperate as it is part of the brand experience.
I expect the premium brands to get seperate space with dedicated salespeople within a shared building. With their low salesvolume and limited number of different nameplates this should be physically doable and it would bring cost down and efficiency up.

I think the showroom and dealer experience are crucial for brand success and I consider that the CDJR model of having models in the same showroom is a cause for many of the problems of FCA and for their obssession with cannibalization.
The way you outlined it in this post puts my mind at ease.

 

[AlexB]

They want to work with dealergroups that offer all Stellantis brands and services. They do not want combined showrooms. Do you honestly think they want to have showrooms with 40+ different nameplates. It would be insane.
Stellantis prides itself on having a very diverse offer of brands, they know very well that the showroom experience is part of the brand experience.
I have not seen or heard anything about a combined showroom for the mainstream brands let alone adding Jeep to them.
The average showroom in Europe is much smaller than in the US, so not only is this idea insane it would also be physically impossible.
When i read or hear something that does not make sense on any level, i dissmiss it.
Stellantis wants the dealergroups that now only have seperate showrooms for 2 or 3 of the brands to add seperate showrooms for the other 2 or 3 brands to get a more efficiently run salesnetwork. On the backend of the dealer, with service, maintenance, parts, education of employees, the online experience etc having dealergroups that offer all brands makes a lot of sense but the showrooms should be seperate as it is part of the brand experience.
I expect the premium brands to get seperate space with dedicated salespeople within a shared building. With their low salesvolume and limited number of different nameplates this should be physically doable and it would bring cost down and efficiency up.

“The multi-brand rooftop proposition is potentially interesting. Our consumer research has shown that of various future propositions, this is the one that new car buyers would like to see, and the Stellantis portfolio does offer some real choice. In 2014, we highlighted the AutoCity development in Bolzano, Italy by the Barchetti Group, at the time hosting 13 new car franchises, 15 aftersales franchises and a multi-brand used car floor. This allows more flexible use of the space, with brand differentiated areas and no direct access between each sales space, but with a multi-brand workshop and parts facility, and shared back office. Stellantis have referred to ‘softened standards and outlet optimisation’ indicating that they want to reduce the structural cost in networks – though most of the multi-brand facilities are surely going to require new investments over time, with a question mark about the reusability or saleability of the former single brand dealerships. Normally in any multi-brand rooftop, there is also an issue if the investor wants to sell, and needs to get the approval of all the OEMs for the prospective buyer. This should not apply to Stellantis as a single group covering all the brands, but there will be pressure to include brands that may not be viable, even under a shared rooftop, unless the standards on those marginal brands are very ‘soft’ to use the Stellantis terminology.”

Multi-brand Dealer Sites – Good or Bad? — ICDP

As everyone in the European motor industry must be aware, last week Stellantis held dealer meetings across Europe to announce that they were terminating all existing dealer contracts, some of which have only been in place for a couple years, and would enter into discussions with a reduced number of

www.icdp.net

I got 12 more like this, but we will know for sure on Capital Markets Day/Investor Day when Carlos release his 10 year Merger plan.

 

[jorisr]

Multi-brand Dealer Sites – Good or Bad? — ICDP

As everyone in the European motor industry must be aware, last week Stellantis held dealer meetings across Europe to announce that they were terminating all existing dealer contracts, some of which have only been in place for a couple years, and would enter into discussions with a reduced number of

www.icdp.net

I got 12 more like this, but we will know for sure on Capital Markets Day/Investor Day when Carlos release his 10 year Merger plan.

I think you missed this sentence in the article you shared:
"This allows more flexible use of the space, with brand differentiated areas and no direct access between each sales space, but with a multi-brand workshop and parts facility, and shared back office."
As i said "seperate showrooms" with multi brand dealers.
I am sure that there will be flagship Stellantis dealer locations where all Stellantis brands have seperate showrooms at one location.
In practice at most current locations they will not be able house all 9 of their brands.
Most current locations are limited to 2 or 3 showrooms.
As i said it is all about optimizing efficiency. Maybe they will come up with a very space efficient solution where going forward they will be able to have 5 or 8 or 9 showrooms/salesspaces where the brands can be presented in a great way with enough space for all services to be performed and enough room for their stock supply.
They are probably developing concepts of these multibrand dealerlocations right now. Stellantis has stated that they want to engage with their dealer partners about how the future of carsales will evolve and we will see what comes out of that.
So again Stellantis wants multi brand dealerships they do not want combined showrooms as it is also stated in the article you linked.

 

[AlexB]

I think you missed this sentence in the article you shared:
"This allows more flexible use of the space, with brand differentiated areas and no direct access between each sales space, but with a multi-brand workshop and parts facility, and shared back office."
As i said "seperate showrooms" with multi brand dealers.
I am sure that there will be flagship Stellantis dealer locations where all Stellantis brands have seperate showrooms at one location.
In practice at most current locations they will not be able house all 9 of their brands.
Most current locations are limited to 2 or 3 showrooms.
As i said it is all about optimizing efficiency. Maybe they will come up with a very space efficient solution where going forward they will be able to have 5 or 8 or 9 showrooms/salesspaces where the brands can be presented in a great way with enough space for all services to be performed and enough room for their stock supply.
They are probably developing concepts of these multibrand dealerlocations right now. Stellantis has stated that they want to engage with their dealer partners about how the future of carsales will evolve and we will see what comes out of that.
So again Stellantis wants multi brand dealerships they do not want combined showrooms as it is also stated in the article you linked.

Again, we have to wait for Carlos himself in January.

 

[pumadog]

I don't even think they plan to bring Lancia everywhere in Europe. When they talked about the brand earlier, the plan was to bring it to "more markets" in southern Europe.

Anyway, multibrand dealer groups are the future everywhere, at least in Europe. So better to share with other Stellantis brands than with other car makers.

 

[Deckard Cain]

Lancia could probably get some sales in Portugal.

 

[KrisW]

Lancia and DS have a lot of overlap. Not surprising, as DS was modelled on Lancia in the first place.

 

[pumadog]

Let's have a look into the Tonale!



I like what I see so far! Just miss the hanging needles, but maybe there are different digital options.



Featuring a Jeep engine cover still. So it seems to be the 1.3 Turbo GSE.

 

[Mopar392]

Does this mean it will come with ZF 9-speed as well??

 

[Bili]

Let's have a look into the Tonale!

View attachment 5349View attachment 5350View attachment 5353

I like what I see so far! Just miss the hanging needles, but maybe there are different digital options.

View attachment 5351View attachment 5352

Featuring a Jeep engine cover still. So it seems to be the 1.3 Turbo GSE.

If it's a PHEV then we are talking about 1.3.

Does this mean it will come with ZF 9-speed as well??

Surely not in Europe. I can't speak about US.

For Europe it will be 1.5 turbo GSE mated to a 7 speed Getrag wet DCT with built in electric motor. It's a P2 MHEV.
And of course 1.3 turbo GSE in PHEV set-up. Aisin 6 speed is used.

 

[KrisW]

MHEV with wet-clutch DCT should be should be fine for the USA too. The problems with DCT boxes in the US market was from overheating during long periods of creeping - using an electromotor for very low speed, and a wet clutch both solve that problem.

1.5T + 7-speed will be the entry model for Hornet too?

 

[pumadog]

And let's look under the Tonale:



1300 Super, Veloce and Ti versions according to the stickers: GabetzSpyUnit on Facebook

 

[TripleT]

DNA placement is poor... they need to make new console to accommodate it, it suppose to be at your fingertips not reached for on the dash.

 

[KrisW]

It’s no further from your hands than the switch is on Giulia, just in a different direction.

 

[pumadog]

Seems to be pretty close to the steering wheel. I don't see any problem with that. You don't really need it in hectic situations, rather when starting your trip.

 

[Bili]

I'm not 100% happy with some interior choices but to my eyes it seems that they've done a lot of efforts to bring it on Giulia/Stelvio level in terms of styling.

My critic goes to hear lever. It seems the same or similar as on Compass. I would prefer same solution as on Giulia and Stelvio.

What @TripleT doesn't like and what is also my concern is central tunnel in general.
Too similar to Compass and indeed that part seems like a half arsed effort.