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Stellantis ready to kill brands and fix U.S. problems, CEO Tavares says

  MILAN — Stellantis is taking steps to fix weak margins and high inventory at its U.S. operations and will not hesitate to axe underperforming brands in its sprawling portfolio, its chief executive Carlos Tavares said on Thursday. The warning for lossmaking brands is a turnaround for Tavares, who has maintained since Stellantis was created in 2021 from the merger of Italian-American automaker Fiat Chrysler and France's PSA that all of its 14 brands including Maserati, Fiat, Peugeot and Jeep have a future. "If they don't make money, we'll shut them down," Carlos Tavares told reporters after the world's No. 4 automaker delivered worse-than-expected first-half results, sending its shares down as much as 10%. "We cannot afford to have brands that do not make money." The automaker now also considers China's Leapmotor as its 15th brand, after it agreed to a broad cooperation with the group. Stellantis does not release figures for individual brands, except for Maserati which reported an 82 million euro adjusted operating loss in the first half. Some analysts say Maserati could possibly be a target for a sale by Stellantis, while other brands such as Lancia or DS might be at risk of being scrapped given their marginal contribution to the group's overall sales. Stellantis' Milan-listed shares were down as much as 12.5% on Thursday, hitting their lowest since August 2023. That brings the loss for the year so far to 22%, making them the worst performer among the major European automakers. Few automotive brands have been killed off since General Motors ditched the unprofitable Saturn and Pontiac during a U.S. government-led bankruptcy in the global financial crisis in 2008. Tavares is under pressure to revive flagging margins and sales and cut inventory in the United States as Stellantis bets on the launch of 20 new models this year which it hopes will boost profitability. Recent poor results from global carmakers have heightened worries about a weakening outlook for sales across major markets such as the U.S., whilst they also juggle an expensive transition to electric vehicles and growing competition from cheaper Chinese rivals. Japan's Nissan Motor saw first-quarter profit almost completely wiped out on Thursday and slashed its annual outlook, as deep discounting in the United States shredded its margins. Tavares said he would be working through the summer with his U.S. team on how to improve performance and cut inventory.

2022 Maserati Ghibli price of entry climbs to $77,695

Maserati announced the revamped Ghibli lineup in June, boiling down ten trims to four, but didn't announce pricing. The good have made their way to the Maserati configurator, so now we know how much more a 2022 Maserati will cost in relation to what came before. The big jump happens at the bottom, the previous base Ghibli becoming the 2022 Ghibli GT. The GT holds pat with the 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 making 345 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque. It also gets 18-inch alloy wheels and chrome accents outside, with leather "comfort" seats and Dark Mirror trim inside, and automaker spokesperson Kas Rigas told CarsDirect the GT gains some standard driver assistance tech, wireless charging and black painted brake calipers.   The price bump for the new name and goodies is $4,010, from $73,685 to $77,695 after the $1,495 destination charge.  Above that, the Ghibli Modena starts at $82,395, putting it $1,210 over the previous GranSport and GranLusso trims that came above the S and all-wheel drive S Q4. The Ghibli Modena features a 424-hp version of the V6 engine with 428 lb-ft., restyled bumpers with black inserts, 20-inch wheels and "wraparound" leather seats. Turning the front axles to get the all-wheel drive Modena Q4 adds $2,600, for a total of $84,995. The price of adding AWD has gone up by $100, and this is the only AWD trim in the range now after having three last year; however, the price of getting into an AWD Ghibli in an upper trim has gone down by $2,990. Last year, the lower-tier S Q4 cost $81,185, but the S Q4 GranLusso and GranSport ran $87,985. Finally, the 2022 Ghibli Trofeo starts at  $112,095, just $710 more than the 2021 Ghibli Trofeo. Just under that, and for a short time, is Ghibli F Tributo honoring Juan Manuel Fangio (pictured) with exclusive colors and a "very limited" production run. Based on a search at the Maserati U.S. web site, a Ghibli F Tributo starts at $100,385 if you shop in a place like Arizona, or $102,885 in a place like New York state. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Maserati bringing a car that "opens up new frontiers" to Paris

We're not expecting to see a production version of the coming mid-engined Maserati coupe, expected to be named GranSport, for another few years; however, we might see it in concept form in just a few weeks at the Paris Motor Show. Australian site Car Advice got hold of an e-mail Maserati sent to friends of the Trident, and the first of the six cars mentioned is a "world premiere of a car that opens up new frontiers in terms of exclusiveness, performance and style."
Car Advice says it has been told that this will be a concept form of the GranSport, the GranTurismo replacement set to take on the Porsche 911 with ample use of carbon fiber and a 1,200-kilogram (2,600-pound) curb weight or thereabouts. The GranTurismo's 4.7-liter V8 hasn't been ruled out of the engine bay yet according to reports, but rumors persist that it will use the Ferrari-sourced twin-turbo V6 with 442 horsepower running power to the rear wheels through a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, and have a 0-60 time of something like four seconds.
We can't see the full content of the e-mail, but among the other five cars that have been announced for the stand are the GranTurismo Sport and GranTurismo MC Stradale. With the 2014 Quattroporte not appearing until the 2013 Detroit Auto Show, the Kubang concept said to be retired before the debut of the production version at the 2014 Detroit show and the Levante still just a wee mule, guesses for the three remaining three would be variations on current models. Not that there's anything wrong with that when it's Maserati we're talking about...