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Stellantis sees vehicle loan durations extended amid banking turmoil

Stellantis is seeing clients seeking longer-term financing and leasing deals for their vehicles as a consequence of higher global interest rates, the carmaker's head for the business said. Chief Affiliates Officer Philippe de Rovira said loans which normally had a three-year maturity were now increasingly moved to four years. "This allows customers to get a car for a monthly instalment that is similar to that they had before," he said. The world's third largest carmaker by sales on Tuesday announced it had completed a plan announced in late 2021 to reshuffle and simplify its leasing and financing operations in Europe. Under its terms, Stellantis created a 50-50 single long term multi-brand leasing company named Leasys with Credit Agricole Consumer Finance. It also set up local joint ventures in European countries for its new Stellantis Financial Services unit, formerly Banque PSA Finance, with BNP Paribas Personal Finance and Santander Consumer Finance. "These banks have always had better funding conditions than those we can have as an automaker," de Rovira said. Benefits of the plan included cutting the number of financing and leasing entities the group runs in each country and the number of IT systems it uses, with expected savings exceeding 30% in this particular area, he added. De Rovira said the group had a huge portfolio of orders it had not yet delivered due to supply chain shortages impacting production. "Demand is not our main issue. The issue is to deliver as fast as we can cars that are in our order portfolio, which is still at record levels," he said. The group aims to expand its corporate leased vehicle fleet to more than one million units in 2026 and to double net income from its so-called banking activities to 5.8 billion euros ($6.3 billion) by 2030. De Rovira said Stellantis was not seeing a downward trend in vehicle pricing. "Probably the significant price increases we have seen in 2021 and 2022 will not be repeated because the context is changing, but for the moment we don't see decreases, we see stabilisation". ($1 = 0.9188 euros) (Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari and Gilles Guillaume; Editing by Jan Harvey) Earnings/Financials Plants/Manufacturing Alfa Romeo Chrysler Dodge Jeep RAM

Build your own: 2017 Jeep Wrangler Willys Wheeler

While still three weeks from the start of summer, it arrived in practical terms with the Memorial Day weekend. And while the country will have worked through its collective hangover (from too much food, drink and shopping) and gotten back to work, it's worth remembering what – automotively – got us here, preserving both democracy and personal freedoms. The CJ-inspired Jeep Wrangler got us here, and in its Willys Wheeler guise the spirit of America rolls on. As the many spy pics have shown, FCA's Jeep division is working hard to replace its current Wrangler within the next few months. With that, we say goodbye to 10 model years of Wrangling with the current model. And that decade has been a good one for Jeep. Despite the economic downturn between 2008 and 2010, Jeep and Jeep Wrangler sales have been consistent bright spots for FCA, along with – of course – Ram trucks and, uh, Ram trucks. With a new Wrangler around the bend, it's worth taking a look at the existing model. And knowing an all-new example is coming, what would be the reason – if shopping – to consider what's on dealer lots now? Despite the numerous areas of improvement the new model will deliver (in efficiency, refinement and safety) , there's something to be said for a vehicle 10 years into its production cycle. While this is wholly anecdotal, for every step forward a manufacturer makes with a new vehicle, the added tech and necessary complexity seem to mandate two steps back. In an Audi A4, tech would seem a good thing, while in a Wrangler, this Jeep enthusiast would see it as a mixed blessing. Almost 80 years into its evolution (the initial Jeep concept came together in the summer of 1940) little has changed in the Jeep's essential mission. A body-on-frame architecture transports a driver and up to three passengers over paved and unpaved surfaces with credible confidence and a modicum of security. Live axles front and rear enhance the Wrangler's off-road capability, but compromise its on-road behavior. And while a significantly wider track mitigates rollovers, the Wrangler is decades removed from "state-of-the-art" when discussing safety or handling. Currently there's but one engine available in the States, a 3.6 liter normally-aspirated V6 producing 285 horsepower at a you'll-rarely-get-there 6,400 rpm. Connected to either a six-speed manual or ($1,400) five-speed automatic, the engine moves the 4,000-pound (loaded) Wrangler with measured confidence.

Fiesta-sized Jeep coming in 2014

We've heard rumors before about a new, baby Jeep to slot below the new-for-2014 Cherokee (pictured) in the automaker's lineup. Now, Edmunds is reporting that the new crossover will arrive sometime in 2014, and will be about the same size as the Ford Fiesta. This currently unnamed vehicle will effectively replace both the Compass and Patriot in the Jeep lineup.
Speaking to Edmunds, Jeep CEO Mike Manley said that the new, small Jeep will be assembled in Italy and marketed globally beginning sometime next year. Manley did not provide many details on the new model, but did say that it will be 4.2-meters (165 inches) long. The Cherokee, by comparison, is 4.6-meters long (181 inches). Furthermore, Edmunds reports that while the new small Jeep will offer diesel power in other markets, there are no plans for an oil-burning version here in the US.
Many other automakers are exploring this smaller crossover segment here in the US. General Motors recently launched the Buick Encore, which is loosely based on the Chevrolet Sonic subcompact's platform. Ford has already launched its Fiesta-based EcoSport in other markets, and has reportedly been pondering the idea of offering it in the US, as well.