Stellantis Responds to Dealer Council’s Criticism of CEO Tavares

Stellantis has officially responded to a strongly worded open letter from Kevin Farrish, President of the Stellantis National Dealer Council (NDC), which criticized CEO Carlos Tavares for what the dealers described as the “rapid degradation” of the automaker’s U.S. brands. The letter, dated September 10, 2024, accused Tavares of prioritizing short-term profits at the expense of long-term brand health, leading to shrinking market share and growing dealership inventories.

The dealers argued that Stellantis’ U.S. brands—Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep®, and Ram—were being negatively impacted by insufficient inventory management, marketing reductions, and changes to dealer compensation models. They stated that despite earlier warnings, the automaker had failed to take sufficient action to address these concerns, resulting in what they described as an “anemic and diminished state” for their dealerships.

In response to the open letter, Stellantis issued a statement defending its recent actions and rejecting the public nature of the criticism. The company provided the following full statement:

Stellantis’ Full Response to the NDC Letter – 

“We take absolute exception to 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 were up 21% over July, market share was up 0.7 points, and dealer inventory was reduced for two consecutive months by 42,000 units or approximately 10% in total.

This is the result of working together with our dealer network and we want to thank them for their constant support and engagement. We meet and talk monthly, have weekly calls and personal conversations at the highest level. This is where such dialogue should take place.

At Stellantis, we don’t believe that public personal attacks, such as the one in the open letter from the NDC president against our CEO, are the most effective way to solve problems. We have started a path that will prove successful. We will continue to work with our dealers to avoid any public disputes that will delay our ability to deliver results.”

The letter from the NDC had called for more aggressive action from Stellantis to clear out aging inventory and restore the vitality of its brands. Dealers expressed concerns that the company’s decisions in 2023, which they said were aimed at boosting profits and CEO compensation, had led to a decline in market share and overall performance in the U.S. market.

It remains to be seen whether the progress noted in recent months will be sufficient to address dealer frustrations and restore confidence in the long-term strategy.