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Stellantis reports record margins, $7B profits despite chip shortage

MILAN — Automaker Stellantis on Tuesday said it achieved faster-than-expected progress on synergies and record margins in its first six months as a combined company, despite suffering 700,000 units in lower production due to interruptions in the semiconductor supply chain. The company — formed from French carmaker Peugeot PSAÂ’s takeover of the Italian-American company Fiat Chrysler — reported net profit of 5.9 billion euros ($7 billion) in the first half of 2021, compared with a loss 813 million euros during the same period a year earlier, which was impacted by the coronavirus restrictions around the globe. Shipments rose 44% to 3.2 million units, while revenues rose 46% to 75 billion euros. “We are very pleased with the speed with which the new team has begun to execute as one company, as Stellantis,Â’Â’ Chief Financial Officer Richard Palmer told reporters. Semiconductor shortages accounted for 200,000 units of production losses in the first quarter and 500,000 in the second quarter. Semiconductors are used more than ever before in new vehicles with electronic features such as Bluetooth connectivity and driver assist, navigation and hybrid electric systems. Stellantis achieved 1.3 billion euros in cost savings in the first half, mostly by sharing investments in new technologies and platforms, which Palmer said was a faster rate than initially forecast. It aims to achieve 80% of the targeted 5 billion in cost savings by 2024. “These synergies allow us to continue to invest in the electrification strategy, which we talk about every day,” Palmer said. Stellantis, which lags competitors in rolling out electric vehicles, plans to launch 21 fully electric or plug-in gas electric hybrid vehicles over the next two years. North American posted record profitability on global sales of Ram trucks and the strong launch of the Jeep Wrangler 4xe, which was the best-selling plug-in gas electric vehicle in the United States in the second quarter. Stellantis was the market leader in South America and second in Europe. The results were presented on a pro-forma basis, taking into account the performance of each of the carmakers as separate entities during 2020. Related video: 2021 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392 Inside and Out

NHTSA upgrading Jeep Grand Cherokee, Dodge Durango headliner fire probe

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation into headliner fires experienced by a small number of Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango owners has been upgraded to an engineering analysis, the step before the initiation of a recall. In August last year the investigation began with 146,000 Grand Cherokees from 2012 after three complaints were received, but a report on Edmunds says it has been expanded to include 593,299 vehicles covering the 2011-2013 model years for the Jeep and the Dodge Durango, which uses the same headliner assembly, because of possibly 52 incidents of fire.
In some of those incidents drivers have reported a burning odor, smoke or open flames that were contained to the headliner or migrated to another area of the passenger compartment. The culprit has apparently been found: NHTSA blaming an electrical short in the sun visor vanity light wiring, which is routed under the headliner and held in place by three screws. Chrysler began its own probe into the issue when it was first reported and is still looking into the situation while, "fully supporting the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's investigation."

Jeep's new Chip Away commercial has us hunting Al Pacino's back catalog

Chrysler has done a pretty good job as of late turning its television commercials into pep talks or rallying cries, but for its first ad for the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee, it turned to Al Pacino's inspirational speech from the movie Any Given Sunday. In the movie, Pacino's character talks about how football is a game of inches, but the commercial, titled Chip Away, focuses more on the attention to detail that Jeep has exhibited on its updated flagship SUV.
Centering around the newest Grand Cherokee model, the luxurious $47,995 Summit trim level, the commercial shows off some of the hand-stitched leathers and real metal and wood accents found inside the cabin. Check out the new 60-second spot by scrolling below.