Stellantis defends after US dealers flag concerns by Reuters

(Reuters) – Automaker Stellantis (NYSE: ) told its U.S. dealers on Wednesday that its August sales rose 21 percent from July and that its dealer inventories were down for two straight months by about 10 percent .

The president of the Stellantis National Dealer Council criticized CEO Carlos Tavares for the “rapid degradation” of the automaker’s brands and urged him to spend more money to clean up old inventory, Bloomberg News reported, citing a Sept. 10 open letter.

Retailers accused the boss of “short-term decision-making”, which boosted profits last year and increased compensation which they say has eroded market share, the report also said.

The automaker also said its market share was up 0.7 points in August from last month and added that it does not believe “personal public attacks like the one in the NDC president’s open letter against our CEO are the more efficient. way to solve problems”.

The dealership could not be reached for comment and its president, Kevin Farrish, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Tavares, who described Stellantis’ first-half results as “humbling”, said the Franco-Italian carmaker’s North American business suffered from a mix of high vehicle inventories, production issues and a lack of “refinement”. in the way it approached the local market. .

In August, Reuters reported that Tavares visited the US to reassure employees, investors and meet with Detroit-area dealers to discuss issues such as reducing inventories and adjusting vehicle production.

Stellantis’ operating income in the first half of the year fell 40%, mainly due to the poor performance of its North American business, its profit strength. Vehicle sales in the region for its top brands, Ram and Jeep, both fell at least 33 percent from the first half of 2019 to the same period this year, according to research firm Cox Automotive.