---
title: 'Honest Car Talk: Stellantis Problems | Featuring Jeep Wagoneer'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=TutLt1OKQQU'
video_id: 'TutLt1OKQQU'
date: 2026-08-10
duration_sec: 1245
---

# Honest Car Talk: Stellantis Problems | Featuring Jeep Wagoneer

> Source: [Honest Car Talk: Stellantis Problems | Featuring Jeep Wagoneer](https://youtube.com/watch?v=TutLt1OKQQU)

## Summary

This video provides an in-depth analysis of Stellantis' current health, covering its financial struggles, product strategy, and internal culture. The hosts discuss the company's declining stock price and low profitability despite increased sales, attributing these issues to aging product lines, heavy discounting, and a lack of regional adaptation. They offer a candid critique and suggest a 'less is more' approach, emphasizing the need to listen to engineers and focus on core products to ensure the company's survival.

### Key Points

- **Stellantis' Current State** [00:11] — Despite increased market share and sales numbers, Stellantis' stock price is down about 46% and operating margins remain very low. The video aims to provide a balanced perspective on the company's strengths and weaknesses.
- **Stock Decline and Profitability Issues** [02:04] — Year-to-date, Stellantis' stock is down 50%. The low profitability is attributed to the need for massive incentives and discounts to sell vehicles, as the entire product line is aging or very old.
- **Inventory and Dealer Problems** [03:16] — Stellantis has a series of rollover problems, with dealer lots overfilled with product they couldn't move. The time a car sits on the lot before selling was a record in the industry, and dealerships pushed for help.
- **Warranty Claims and Discounting** [04:39] — Stellantis has abnormally high warranty claims, and they are having to discount vehicles heavily (20% or more) and subsidize financing, which further hurts profitability.
- **Comparison with Ford and GM** [05:07] — Compared to Ford and GM, Stellantis is the only American brand (other than Lucid) that is in a far worse place year-to-date in 2025, which is concerning for the stock price.
- **Global Brand, European Influence** [05:35] — Stellantis is a global brand with over 10 brand names, but the American brands are keeping it afloat. However, they still take marching orders from Europe, which is a big problem, as Stellantis in Europe is in even worse shape.
- **The 2030 Plan** [06:57] — Stellantis has a massive plan to release 30 new vehicles by 2030 on a new global architecture that scales out to six or seven platforms, with consolidated electronics, steer-by-wire, and various propulsion types.
- **Engineering Talent Flight** [07:57] — Many talented engineers have fled Stellantis in Detroit to go to Ford, Chevy, or GM, which is concerning from a morale perspective. The core design and engineering talent is leaving.
- **Less is More Approach** [08:37] — The hosts suggest that Stellantis should do 'less is more'—prove out what they can do with a core group of cars and SUVs that are really good, rather than having a bunch of marginal products that are all the same.
- **Insularity and Lack of Outside Input** [10:01] — Stellantis has closed their doors to outside noise and feedback, which is a problem. They need outside input, fresh talent, and to stop shutting down engineers with old mentalities.
- **Ignoring Feedback** [11:40] — After a previous critical video, Stellantis' PR rep was displeased, and instead of taking the feedback constructively, they went insular and did not use it to improve their products.
- **Cutting Dead Weight Brands** [13:15] — The hosts suggest cutting brands that are cost sinks, like Alfa Romeo in the US and Maserati, and consolidating resources into products that actually make money, focusing on what people want: good, affordable cars.
- **The Copperhead Sports Car** [14:59] — There is fear that the new Copperhead sports car will be rushed out to prove they can do a 'Ford Porsche thing', but it needs to be genuine and have the soul of the Viper, not just a homogeneous blob.
- **Three Recommendations** [16:23] — The hosts give three recommendations: 1) Don't rush products, let engineers finish the job. 2) Focus on a core group of products that can be excellent in the market. 3) Bring engineers in for open conversations and listen to them.
- **Cautious Optimism** [18:21] — The hosts are cautiously optimistic. Stellantis is selling more cars and attempting to right the ship, but they need to actually listen to the people doing the dirty work day in and day out.
- **The Big Picture** [19:55] — Keeping these brands around is about preserving the work of grandparents and parents. The hosts hope that insiders are willing to stand up and make changes now, with a 'no excuses' mentality.

## Transcript

This is going to be a video on the health of a company, that company being [music] Stellantis, one of the pillars of the American Big Three. In fact, we unpacking some of their baggage, what they're like to deal with, and how we
feel their product philosophy was. And since then, in the last 8 months, things whole lot better. Despite increased market share, their stock price is down about 46% and despite their increased share of the market or control of the
market and increased sales numbers, their operating margin is still very, very low. And look, this is not a video bashing Stellantis and calling them a about what they're doing right and wrong, at least from our perspective,
brand, and of course, other brands that are genuinely invested in making sure that they stick around. So, with that, enjoy the video. enjoy the video. >> [music]
Stellantis is a garbage brand and everyone who works there is incompetent, despite what our PR friends may think we feel about the brand. I do not hate Stellantis. I don't hate Dodge, Jeep, or Chrysler.
be a little bit better if you figured out how to say a corporate [laughter] memo? >> In the words of Clarence Bodiker, Mark, >> Bodiker? >> Yeah.
>> Yeah, well, that's what I always do, man. >> My inability to pronounce the Detroit's finest names. them, Mark. >> Yeah, no, I I I don't think it's that.
more. Look, th- th- th- We did this video 8 months ago and from then to now things are a mixed bag as I mentioned in the beginning of this
video. Year-to-date the stocks are down 50% profitability is low and a lot of that is due to baggage from let's call it the prior administration of CEO. to be honest despite the recent announcement of yet another Dodge
Charger trim level and the the the street trucks that are a couple enthusiast products that go sideways are not going to fix Stellantis' problems and I think there are a lot of things going on that
they still have not fixed and I don't know if they're going to be able to. sales going up and the reason why their profitability is low despite more market share is the only way they can sell any of these cars is with massive incentives
and massive discounts. Their entire product line is aging or very old and dealerships is to make these things cheap. You can buy a full-blown Grand Cherokee medium trim level in the
low 40s. Show up at a dealership lot. These things are discounted 5-10,000 dollars off which is crazy to think about. So let's just go back just a a little bit because I want to explain something just so it makes more sense.
series of rollover problems, right? They're rolling over the issues like you would piling up dishes in a sink, right? Like it becomes unmanageable and that that's what's happened to their inventory. The
dealer lots were overfilled overfilled with product they couldn't move. The car hits the lot before the time it sells was a record in the industry. They dealership lots. Yeah, yeah and dealerships cannot
function. So a lot of this has been pushed by the dealerships to say give help us, right? Help us help you and part of that started with this whole its own brand and moving up market like all these brands think that they're
screens in or whatever they want to try to do. And the Wagoneer was a massive mistake of overcharging and then under delivering in terms of QC, traditional, you know, Stellantis problems of trying to do too much with not enough resources
probably not listening to their engineers all that much either. So this we're in kind of the reboot of the Grand Wagoneer is now a Jeep. brand. So now they're they're kind of
like catching up to your point. They've had to write down or discount the hell >> Which hurts their profitability. >> And then they have to subsidize them on top of it. Not only with financing, but just blanket like 20% off or some cases
more like you said. So now they're they're digging themselves out, but by digging themselves out spending a hell a lot more money to fix that the those >> still not fix their issue with warranty claims. They have abnormally high for
think one of the most telling things is despite the EV troubles that everybody has gone through, if you compare them to Ford and you compare them to GM, they're the only American brand other than like Lucid that is year-to-date
in a far worse place than they were in 2025, which is a concerning thing for about stock price. Um I think from a product side, what I find maybe not concerning,
but interesting is that they are still like they are starting to release their enthusiast products again. Tim Kuniskis is in charge. You have the trucks. >> Dodge brothers are in charge.
>> You you you have someone who is trying to fix the North American market, but Stellantis is still a global brand. They have over 10 brand names and the are all based here in the US. Yet, they still take some of their marching orders
from Europe, which is a big big problem for them, right? If If the one thing profitability side, because Stellantis in Europe is even worse shape, at least based upon what I've been reading, than
can't compete in the cheap car space, space. So, they're royally screwed there. So, the thing that's keeping them afloat are the American brands. And the American brands don't have the ability
to dictate decisions on what they're doing and how to right the ship, they're >> Yeah, I I I I don't really For me, the numbers part is indicative of like it's the result of the problems, right? That's
that's the tangible, real business results of their decision-making. they're the only ones that make these mistakes. Other brands have problems mistakes. Other brands have problems with quality, engineering, you know.
They all have their different versions of this. It just seems to be piled up on brand. For me personally, thinking about this then it talking to some people in the industry about it as well, I think
there's there's three things. They have a massive plan by 2030 to release 30 new vehicles on a brand new platform that is going to be an architecture that scales out to, I don't know, like six or seven different
platforms. So, one global architecture to scale out. This platform is destined to, like every other brand is doing, cut costs, maximize production capacity, maximize out these cars, including
consolidated electronics to make the consolidated electronic architecture for all these cars homogeneous. Steer-by-wire is going to be integrated. Steer-by-wire is going to be integrated. Electrical propulsion, HEV, BEV. And I
Now, if we're talking about Toyota doing it, talking about VW Group, they can do it. I don't understand when the absolute maximum in these brands, right? You're you're asking them to do a
talented ones or the good ones have retired out. >> of engineers we've talked to who have fled Stellantis just in Detroit and gone to either Ford or Chevy or GM is
concerning from a a morale perspective. >> It's it's it's So, your core design and engineering. Now, you have to keep them in check, otherwise, you know, you turn >> the Lucid problem, right? >> Yeah. Where the car is amazing or you
then you're you're filled it back filling orders, right? You can't build them or you can't support them, right? I don't see in this world where they're at where having all of these models trying to launch on a singular platform is
going to solve any of their problems. And when it comes to not just commodity cars, I would I would prefer to see them do the less is more. Prove out what you can do and have a core group of cars and
do and have a core group of cars and SUVs that are really, really good. And, somebody close to us in this industry where the days of having a mass amount having a bunch of marginal products that are all the same is over. Because you
can't even get a car that is specific to the market, right? You're making a global car that hasn't been adapted enough to our local market. That's also So, if you don't have the resources to to regionally adjust all these cars to
make it US, Europe, China, and you're just trying to do a global approach, that's not going to work either. And by adding more models to the mix, that out more product without you even knowing if it's good. And if if you
Nissan, they tried to do the same thing. They tried the shotgun approach of like They tried the shotgun approach of like global uh global product and not good quality, right? Like high output, shitty quality, and just
they water down their brand into basically a rental car model. And Stellantis, if you're going to do that, you need to take a look at the resources >> Cuz there are a lot of very talented engineers that still work at Stellantis.
the people that can retain their engineers and pay them and listen to against this brand and going through multiple generations and talking to these brands for a long time is they've closed their doors to outside noise,
which you sometimes you have to do, but they're also closing their doors to what doing and understanding this isn't the 1980s anymore, 1990s. Your competition is so fierce that you can no longer compete at the scale that they want to
do. Make less models better. Use the engineering resources you have and >> Make the those products that you're >> passionate before you lose them to other brands. Let them have a voice and stop shutting them down with old mentalities
from inside this brand. And stop being so insular. If you're going to survive, you need outside input, you need fresh talent, you need to harbor the talent people that are new and have better ideas about doing stuff. And it
brand off and then give all the old guys golden parachutes. You know, like that's what really bothers me here. I want to see them survive because the heart and had that are great are great. But you cannot rush things out just to say that
>> Right. Right. You're you're already setting them up to fail. And their sports car stuff, right? Like this is exactly what happened with force with something that wasn't ready to go. They were tone deaf on what
people actually wanted from this brand. And they wondered why it blew up in >> Charger Ice is another great example of that. I think one of the issues that they still have and they're going to have to fix is that they are so insular
and that they're so keep your head down, do your work. They never seem to really look outside of what other brands are doing or take feedback. Pack video, it was not very positive and our PR rep
was very displeased with us and instead of taking any of that feedback as constructive, they did the little pill bug thing and they went insular and did not take that feedback as ways to improve their product. If you look at
abysmal. >> I I I well, our previous video really I I harped on the thing this all starts at the top and works its way down, right? Like this is every major corporation. If you have people in these positions that
their only goal is to make it to retirement with maximum profits, their the incentive structure is not there and it certainly doesn't roll down to the >> and when you get a bunch of engineers there are now checked out or people that
like, "Oh god, just get me through to the end." You're not innovating anymore, you're not getting new talent. And if really good people, they're not going to stick around because there's about, you
know, 50 other brands out there that are doing different things and and doing >> Right. That will not fight you for you you're pushing against the grain and it's a culture, it's a system that is very old, right? This is the OG legacy
automotive OEM and some of those black the it's a blessing and a curse, but mostly in this day and age it's a curse if you can't if you can't like pivot and really open your eyes and ears to what's going on around you or don't shut it
>> Historically there's been some very innovative or compelling product. The RAM is a good truck. The Wrangler is unique in its space and then the old SRT days, there were some really really cool things. But to me, like flipping to the
positive, again, I am not the CEO of Stellantis, but if I were them, of cutting a lot of the dead weight brands that are assuming a lot of your capital costs. Like, in the US, Alfa doesn't sell at all.
Maserati, despite some of their products being compelling, is more probably a cost sink than a profit maker. And a lot of your smaller brands in Europe that just don't seem to make revenue, consolidate those resources in building
products that actually pay your bills and brands that actually make you money, and focus on what people want, which is they need a very good, affordable
>> And and that's their plan. That that plan by 2030 is to draw to actually have some cars under the $30,000 price point. They're trying to hit that market of expensive ones, >> But, they they want a Maverick.
>> Right. It but this it's the shotgun approach. It's not just going to be support. Where where they get the engineering resources to do all that? I know, homogeneous like platform, right? You shouldn't have to do a lot of work,
but then what's the point of stepping over yourself? Again, you're not Toyota, and people aren't coming to Stellantis Dodge for a Toyota-like experience, right? Like, if I if I want a RAV4 and I want to have a car for 20 years, I'm
Jeep or a Dodge. Like, it just it's not in the United States, you can't compete in that segment. You the product is good. >> you do?
on the sports car perspective, whatever that new Excalibur thing What's the >> The Copperhead. >> The Copperhead. Okay, the Copperhead. I My fear with them doing that is again, they're going to rush a product out
there because they think, "Oh, we want to prove that we're we can do the Ford Porsche thing and do our own thing." That if they're going to do that and they want to kind of bring that back the soul of the Viper, it's got to have the
completely different where it's a feels car, not not out marketing crap. It has to be genuine. It has to be an experience like when you get behind the wheel of a Viper or old SRT4, where it's a feels car, where you feel things,
where you you feel like you're driving it and it's an experience unlike any they're just going to make it a homogeneous blob just to out a car, like it's got to have the soul of that with a less like
>> They're not going to be able to out ZR1 Chevy. And they're not going to be able able to out GT3 Porsche. They have to build something that's uniquely Dodge and not just like a re-badged other Stellantis product with a with a
Dodge name on it. It can't just be some >> be It cannot You have to take the time to do it right. If you have a target date, you you don't push it like, "Oh, we want to push it. You know, this is what we we promised." No. Let
the engineers finish the job and see it through to completion so you don't have a repeat of what you just did with the EV charger. That that's my first thing. Don't rush it. The second thing is less is more. What I would do is focus on the
then you know you can regionalize the products that can be excellent in the market that you're doing and it's a no excuses environment. No excuses. You get the talent, you get the resources, and you set aside the capital to have the
you focus on that core group of products that you know you can have an impact on. you know, for better or for worse, you don't have the emissions right compliancy problems that you had prior
to this. Now is your time to build product that people want to buy here in emissions being >> Yeah, absolutely. And then the last thing I'll say is I know I ramble on a
quite a bit. Bring your engineers in. All hands-on deck across your organizations and have them sit down in town halls and have an open conversation about what they want to do. Or if you have a fear of reprisal like a lot of
brands do, you figure out a closed system to get the the the information from these people. They will tell you. They will tell you what they need. They want to keep this company and these brands around, you have to listen to
them now. You have to do this for the betterment of that company. And if if leadership that says like no, then it's time to look at that leadership and make same thing over and over again for decades. Right? Nothing's changing here.
So, like again, you can't blame the people at the bottom doing the dirty >> We've talked to engineers at other brands who are very senior and they all say the same thing. We don't want Dodge and Stellantis to fail despite us
competing in this space. We want customers of the choice of other brands, but they need to make changes to stay relevant to where they're at. And I I really hope that when we do this video again in a year, that it's sunshine and
rainbows and things are great, but I am let's call it cautiously optimistic maybe based upon what you're saying. They are selling more cars. They are attempting to right the ship,
actually listen to the people who are doing the dirty work day in and day out because those are the people that need their job, care, and want to see >> Well, from a domestic perspective, you know, at least in the United States, the
the core of these brands that keeping Stellantis afloat were rooted in a long Stellantis afloat were rooted in a long history of US workforce. Right? Like you Chinese and all this other stuff like making making the boogeyman out of other
countries, which you can for sake of competition, you want these businesses to be around, manufacturing, the engineering that's very much not as big We we talk about this all the time. Like, I'm an automotive engineer, what
>> It's the big three. >> That that's it. I mean, or Tesla and, Rivian, maybe, but these are small companies compared to the big three. And most of the engineering is not done here. You know, like Porsche, the the
>> Yeah, unless you're from the US, you're not you're not you're not working there. >> Unless you're from that country, that's your country, you are not going to move up there. So, like, you have to keep in
mind it's a shrinking world and you have to to really think about what that means. And it it has to get very personal for some of these people to realize the big picture is you know, it's not just for the brand, it's for
to keep these brands around long-term, away all the work that their grandparents and their parents did. You you know, these these cars, these iconic cars that they made in the past, you
flush that all down down the toilet, all that work, by just letting this go under future and open your eyes. And I I think that's a scary place to be and I hope inside are willing to stand up against that and be like, now is the time to do
it. No excuses, right? Just that that mentality.