> This is the year that Stellantis NV's U.S. vehicle sales must start growing again, after seven straight annual declines and prior promises that a recovery was just around the corner.
> That was the blunt takeaway from a packed closed-door meeting on Wednesday between the automaker's senior executives and much of its 2,400-member dealer body at the National Automobile Dealers Association annual convention.
> "2026 is the year of execution, and we're counting on our dealers to deliver," Jeff Kommor, who leads U.S. sales for Stellantis, told The Detroit News after the meeting. "We've given them all the tools that they need. Excuses are over. There are no more excuses."
> Stellantis U.S. market share has hovered around 8% the last two years, a steep decline from its 12.5% or so share as recently as 2020 under its predecessor company.
I've been a car guy since I was a kid. I've been doing car forums since 2001... many of them Dodge/Chrysler/RAM. Very very few people that were fans of those brands were happy with the Electric offerings. The news of internal combustion engines coming back has been well received in the 'enthusiast' market at least.
My first site was a Neon SRT4 forum.. so we aren't just talking big V8's here either. Turbo 4's, N/A V6's, etc.. just the electric stuff didn't hit their particular fan base well.
I of course only do forums for enthusiast stuff... it's hard to build a forum around minivans, though they are out there.
The question is affordability. The market for those who can service $1k/month in a car note and insurance is not that big in the US. Average price of a new car is $50k currently.
> Auto finance is at a breaking point, as Americans owe over $1.66 trillion in auto debt. Delinquencies, defaults, and repossessions have shot up in recent years and look alarmingly similar to trends that were apparent before the Great Recession. Cars are more expensive than ever, due in part to economic factors, but also due to the fraught experience of buying and financing a car. Dealers and lenders have long engaged in deceptive and predatory practices that jack up prices for car buyers in order to line their pockets. This auto finance crisis is happening just as our nation’s federal watchdogs–the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) – have taken significant steps back from oversight and enforcement of predatory practices in the auto market.
'Excuses are over': Stellantis tells dealers sales must grow this year - https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/chrysler/20... | https://archive.today/y16BG - February 5th, 2026
> This is the year that Stellantis NV's U.S. vehicle sales must start growing again, after seven straight annual declines and prior promises that a recovery was just around the corner.
> That was the blunt takeaway from a packed closed-door meeting on Wednesday between the automaker's senior executives and much of its 2,400-member dealer body at the National Automobile Dealers Association annual convention.
> "2026 is the year of execution, and we're counting on our dealers to deliver," Jeff Kommor, who leads U.S. sales for Stellantis, told The Detroit News after the meeting. "We've given them all the tools that they need. Excuses are over. There are no more excuses."
> Stellantis U.S. market share has hovered around 8% the last two years, a steep decline from its 12.5% or so share as recently as 2020 under its predecessor company.
Cooked.
I've been a car guy since I was a kid. I've been doing car forums since 2001... many of them Dodge/Chrysler/RAM. Very very few people that were fans of those brands were happy with the Electric offerings. The news of internal combustion engines coming back has been well received in the 'enthusiast' market at least.
My first site was a Neon SRT4 forum.. so we aren't just talking big V8's here either. Turbo 4's, N/A V6's, etc.. just the electric stuff didn't hit their particular fan base well.
I of course only do forums for enthusiast stuff... it's hard to build a forum around minivans, though they are out there.
The question is affordability. The market for those who can service $1k/month in a car note and insurance is not that big in the US. Average price of a new car is $50k currently.
Record number of subprime borrowers miss car loan payments in October, data shows - https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/record... - November 12th, 2025
Driven to Default: The Economy-Wide Risks of Rising Auto Loan Delinquencies - https://consumerfed.org/reports/driven-to-default-the-econom... - September 10th, 2025
> Auto finance is at a breaking point, as Americans owe over $1.66 trillion in auto debt. Delinquencies, defaults, and repossessions have shot up in recent years and look alarmingly similar to trends that were apparent before the Great Recession. Cars are more expensive than ever, due in part to economic factors, but also due to the fraught experience of buying and financing a car. Dealers and lenders have long engaged in deceptive and predatory practices that jack up prices for car buyers in order to line their pockets. This auto finance crisis is happening just as our nation’s federal watchdogs–the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) – have taken significant steps back from oversight and enforcement of predatory practices in the auto market.
(day job is in consumer finance)