From dealer revolt to redemption—inside Stellantis’ comeback play

Hey, everyone — Get this: Ram and Jeep were the only automaker commercials to air during the Super Bowl.

And according to CarGurus—in the 8 minutes before the commercials aired versus 8 minutes after—Ram saw a 375% increase in views of vehicle pages for both new and used models. 

Jeep also saw a 214% lift with the Wrangler 4xe increasing by 874% (!), the Gladiator by 179%, and the Grand Cherokee by 69%. Wild.

—CDG

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Stellantis has the opportunity to pull off one of the great turnarounds in automotive history.

You see—I’ve been following the automaker (owner of the brands Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, et. al) closely for the past year and I have to say—the massive pivot after getting roasted in a very public letter by its own National Dealer Council has been fun to watch.

And after talking to industry analysts, dealers, consultants, and the newly appointed Chairman of the Stellantis National Dealer Council, there is a lot for dealers and the industry to be positive about. 

Here are the real reasons behind the ongoing shift at Stellantis—and why dealers are watching closely…

1. Stellantis is reversing its price hikes— trying to win back buyers.

Since 2018—Stellantis has lost 630,000 sales or just over 3.5% in market share by discontinuing popular models like the Dodge Grand Caravan, Jeep Cherokee and Jeep Renegade. 

However—newer models introduced like the Dodge Hornet and Jeep Wagoneer only added ~76,000 in sales.

Why?

Basically—shrouded in a haze of pandemic-era profitability—Stellantis thought it could move upmarket, price vehicles at $70-100K, and take share from Mercedes and BMW. 

Spoiler alert. It didn’t.

A significant portion of Stellantis’ customer base consists of non-prime borrowers, but these buyers are not the target market for high-priced vehicles…

And the prime borrowers who can afford a $100K SUV? They’re at the Land Rover dealership.

But the good news is—average transaction prices across most Stellantis brands are lower year-over-year than all other automakers (except Mitsubishi—but that’s a whole other newsletter). 

Jeep and Dodge prices are down 9%, Chrysler declined by 5% (it’s a start) and Ram stayed relatively flat, according to Cox Auto via Erin. 

“It’s likely a very warranted and smart correction that they started to make to win back the confidence of its dealers … and win back the customers,” she added. 

And Stellantis is also winning back confidence of some major players in the dealership buy/sell market…

2. Stellantis is shifting focus to product over profit—resulting in more dealers eyeing CDJR stores for acquisition.

“Would you consider acquiring Stellantis dealerships?”

That’s the exact question Alan Haig from Haig Partners asked Daryl Kenningham, CEO of Group 1 Automotive, during the Auto Team America Conference at the 2025 NADA Show.

This is an important insight, given that Group 1 is one of the largest public dealership groups out there and is in constant acquisition mode.

But it’s not just the big players taking notice—

I was reminded of my Car Dealership Guy Podcast episode with Kyle Coleman, a longtime dealership general manager who recently made the leap to ownership, buying his first store—a Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram dealership—in a rural market. 

This shift in sentiment is meaningful. If both large dealer groups and first-time buyers see value in Stellantis stores—it’s a sign to pay attention.

Dealers — Ignite your most productive employee

Typing cause-and-correction stories that satisfy OEM warranty reimbursement requirements represents a huge time suck for your most productive employee: your technicians.

Enter Pencilwrench, a point-and-click system designed to help techs generate post-repair stories that:

• Fly Through a Lot Faster: Techs are guided through a checklist of questions while the repair story takes shape with every click.

• Are Technically Accurate: Pencilwrench's extensive knowledge base helps techs compose OEM-compliant post-repair stories.

• Build Value and Trust: Standardize how detailed repair stories need to be so customers know exactly the work performed.

• Drive Retention: Pencilwrench gets techs paid more while lifting limits like language barriers when documenting warranty work.

And maybe most importantly…

3. Stellantis leadership is resolving dealer tensions with a new level of transparency.

“We went through hell and over the last 30 months—a lot of confusion,” Mike Bettenhausen, owner of Bettenhausen CDJR and the Chairman of the Stellantis National Dealer Council told me.

And the lack of transparency is exactly why he signed his name to the letter dealers sent Stellantis in September 2024.

“We do not have to worry about the Ram brand this year. Tim is going to fix and ramp up Ram and get us back up to 20%+ share very quickly… As for Jeep—that's going to take us probably a good part of this calendar year to bring the products that we need into the marketplace to compete.”

Jeep will fill the Cherokee-sized hole in its lineup with a new compact SUV on a hybrid powertrain. There’s also talk of a compact / midsize truck for Ram, and $25K EV replacement for the Renegade. 

“They're working on a lot at a high level that we haven’t seen yet, but they’re focused on bringing products back into segments we no longer compete in, setting us up for 2027,” Mike added.

But there is an elephant in the room…

President Trump is threatening a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico—bad news when 40% of Stellantis’ U.S. sales come from cars built in those countries, per Moody’s.

In fact, according to S&P Global Mobility, Stellantis is one of the most exposed automakers and could lose up to 17% of its annual core profits if these tariffs go through.

For an automaker already playing defense—this could be a brutal hit and upend any progress made.

Big picture: I’ve spent a lot of time talking about Stellantis’ wins in this newsletter, but the reality is—this is only the start. And while I refuse to believe one misguided regime could bring down such historic legacy brands—it will likely take years before the automaker fully regains what it lost. But for now—it looks like the worst is behind us and rationality has once again been restored.

What do you think? Reply to this email, I’ll highlight a few responses on next week’s newsletter!

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Looking to hire? Add your roles today—it’s 100% free.

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Thanks for reading. See you on the next edition…

—Car Dealership Guy

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