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Stellantis Group officially announced that from now on, Pan Liyin will be the general manager of Stellantis (Shanghai) Automobile Co., Ltd. and the acting general manager of Alfa Romeo China, while Zeng Dihao will be the deputy general manager of Stellantis (Shanghai) Automobile Co., Ltd. and the general manager of Jeep China.

Stellantis Group is the world's fourth largest automaker, formed by the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot Citroen. It owns 15 car brands, including Abbas, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Citroen, Dodge, DS, Fiat, Fiat Commercial vehicle, Jeep, Lancia, Maserati, Opel, Peugeot, RAM, Vauxhall and so on. Covering ultra-luxury, luxury, mainstream passenger cars and even heavy pick-up trucks, SUV and light commercial vehicles and other market segments.

According to an official press release, Stellantis (Shanghai) Automobile Co., Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Stellantis Group in China. It is mainly responsible for the promotion, operation, management, sales and after-sales business of Stellantis Group's Jeep ®brand, Alfa Romeo brand, DS brand and Stellantis Group's global official auto parts brand MOPAR in China. Previously, Ashwani Muppasani, chairman of the board of Stellantis (Shanghai), has said that these brands will not compete with each other, each brand has its own budget, there is no market overlap, so it can better achieve synergy.

In July 2022, Stellantis Group announced that it would adopt a light asset approach to develop the Jeep brand in China, and negotiated with GAC GROUP to terminate the local joint venture. Since then, the Stellantis Group will focus on the distribution of imported Jeep-branded cars in China. In February 2023, Stellantis China and China Import Automobile Trading Co., Ltd. signed a framework agreement in Beijing. The agreement signed by both sides will be an important step for Stellantis China to systematically promote the direct marketing model of Jeep, Alfa Romeo and DS brands in China. To put it simply, it is the Jeep, Alfa Romeo and DS brands that have opened the direct selling mode.

Reviewing the development process of some brands of Stellantis Group, Jeep, DS and other brands have entered the Chinese market, but it is a pity that the development of these brands in China is not smooth.

In 2007, Jeep entered the Chinese market by way of import, and successively introduced two heavyweight models, the Grand Cherokee and Commander. In January 2015, GAC Fiat changed its name to GAC Fiat Chrysler, then introduced the Jeep brand into China, and then successively made domestic models such as Free Light, Liberty Man, Compass, Big Commander and so on. According to the data, Guangzhou Auto Fick sold 179900 and 222300 vehicles respectively from 2016 to 2017, of which 2017 even became the fastest joint venture SUV brand with cumulative sales of more than 400000 vehicles, setting a sales peak. But since then, sales have fallen year after year, leaving only 20100 by 2021. As ‌ Guangzhou Fick ceased operation and became insolvent, the Jeep brand finally announced that it would stop making China and become an imported brand in 2022. In November of that year, GAC Fick officially entered bankruptcy proceedings.

DS brand is a luxury brand of French PSA Group, which is very popular in France and is known as "presidential car". In November 2011, Changan Automobile and PSA Group established Changan Peugeot Citroen. In September 2013, the first domestic model of Changan Peugeot Citroen DS 5 was launched, and then DS 5LS, DS 6, DS 4S and DS 7 models were introduced successively. In March 2014, the DS brand was officially spun off from Peugeot Citroen and French luxury brands continued to enter the Chinese market. However, the performance of the DS brand in the domestic market is hardly satisfactory, with annual sales of only 26000 vehicles at an all-time high, and only 1179 vehicles left in 2020, while the current DS in China exists in name only.

The Alfa Romeo brand is a niche imported luxury brand, which was acquired by Fiat Group in 1986 and became one of its car brands, whose products are mainly BBA. In April 2017, Alfa Romeo officially entered the Chinese market and introduced Giulia and Stelvio into the Chinese market, but its domestic position is very minority, so its sense of existence is also very limited. At present, the models on sale in the Alfa Romeo Chinese market include Giulia Juliet for medium-sized cars, Stelvio Steinway for medium-sized SUV, and Tonale Tonali for compact SUV.

On July 25th, Stellantis Group announced its financial results for the first half of 2024. According to the financial report, in the first half of 2024, Stellantis Group's net revenue was 85.017 billion euros, down 14 percent from the same period last year, lower than the expected 87 billion euros; net profit was 5.647 billion euros, down 48 percent from the same period last year, below expectations of 6.97 billion euros. In addition, in the first half of the year, Stellantis Group achieved an adjusted operating profit of 8.463 billion euros, with an adjusted operating profit margin of 10%. In terms of market segments, North America is the main contributor, contributing more than half of the operating profit of 8.463 billion euros to 4.366 billion euros, while in the Chinese market, Stellantis Group combines China, India and the Asia-Pacific region, and the operating profit in the first half of the year is only 57 million euros, almost negligible.

After announcing the first-half results, Tang Weishi, chief executive of Stellantis Group, revealed that he might shut down some of the group's unprofitable brands, saying: "if they do not make money, the group will close down and cannot afford unprofitable brands." Although Stellantis did not specify which brands it would shut down, there was speculation that niche brands such as Lancia, DS and Alfa Romeo were relatively dangerous because of their low share of sales. At the same time, there is also news in the market that luxury car brand Maserati may be sold. In response, Stellantis said it had no intention of selling or merging the unit with other Italian luxury groups, saying in a statement: "Stellantis reaffirms its strong commitment to Maserati's bright future, which is the only luxury brand among the group's 14 car brands." At the same time, Stellantis reaffirmed its commitment to Maserati's entire portfolio.

Overall, automakers, including Stellantis, are under pressure because of falling demand and high investment in electrification. In response to the personnel reshuffle of Stellantis Group in China, Douglas Ostermann, member of the global executive committee, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Stellantis Group, said: "Stellantis Group will continue to implement a light asset business model for its brands in China. I believe that the adjustment of the management team of Stellantis (Shanghai) Automobile Co., Ltd., Alfa Romeo China and Jeep China will bring better and more comprehensive imported car products and after-sales service to Chinese consumers. "

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