by

The premium brands of Stellantis take six months to sell the same quantity of cars sold by Mercedes in 14 days

It is as simple as that. The brands considered premium by Stellantis sold in H1 2021 the same quantity of cars sold by Mercedes-Benz passenger cars in just 14 days. The huge sales volume gap between them is just an example of how far Stellantis is from reaching the levels that guarantee the survival of some of its brands.

Sales increased by 21%

The premium group posted a sales increase of 21% compared to the first half of 2020. With 79,300 units branded Alfa Romeo, DS and Lancia, the results were definitely better (as expected) than during the worst-of-the-pandemic/lockdown period, but still lower than the 112,700 units sold in H1 2019. This means that these three brands made up 2.2% of Stellantis combined sales through June this year.

Although the company announced big plans for these three brands, the reality today is quite complicated. Their lineup doesn’t sum up more than 10 products and nothing is expected to arrive before late 2022, when Alfa Romeo is due to introduce (or at least reveal) the new Tonale. Carlos Tavares gave a 10 years timeline to all of the brands of the group to prove their commercial feasibility.

Lancia grows faster

The paradox is that the brand that offers the most aged car, has the smallest lineup, and the least premium product, is the one growing faster. The data through June shows that Lancia posted a 44% growth vs H1 2020, while Alfa Romeo and DS increased their volumes by 13% and 10% respectively. These are good news for Lancia but bad news for the whole premium strategy.

The Ypsilon is an old hatchback that sells well in Italy mostly because of the attractive deals. As the brand has more than covered the research and development costs associated to the launch of this car, it can offer better prices to customers. However, the pricing strategy of the Ypsilon goes against the goal of repositioning Lancia as a real premium brand.

At the same time, the rest of premium products from Alfa Romeo and DS face tougher competition and the electrification challenge. Nevertheless, I still think that the premium strategy of Stellantis should only focus on Alfa Romeo and DS, as they have more potential than Lancia. It makes more sense to have 2 solid premium brands than 3 weak ones. Don’t you agree?

Alfa Romeo at the same levels of Lancia

Even if it offers two modern and handsome cars, and has presence in more than 50 countries around the world, the sales volume of Alfa Romeo can barely outperform that of Lancia. Actually, Lancia already outsells Alfa Romeo in Europe, as it has been the case since 2019. The same happens to DS, with presence in Europe and China and with a lineup composed of 3 models available in H1 2021 (one more to come in H2).

Of course, we must take into account that the Ypsilon is an affordable city-car for the masses in Italy, while the cheapest Alfa Romeo starts at €47,000 in Italy. In France, you can get a new DS 3 Crossback for €24,900. Obviously, the Ypsilon has a wider clients universe. However, there are other reasons in addition to the price.

  • Some of the products of Alfa Romeo and DS play in segments whose sales are dropping.
  • It will be always hard to compete against the 3 German premiums. Ask Jaguar or Infiniti.
  • EVs are driving the few growth remaining in Europe. Only DS offers these powertrains (PHEV and BEV) in its lineup.

13 thoughts on “The premium brands of Stellantis take six months to sell the same quantity of cars sold by Mercedes in 14 days”

  2. Donde dejaste a Maserati es más premium que Lancia. Es un absurdo considerar a Lancia premium. Si metes a Lancia también deberías meter a Chrysler. Stellantis premium Alfa Romeo – DS – Maserati

    Like

    Reply

  3. Hello Felipe,

    Alfa and Lancia are where FCA left them… near zero…
    DS still has no pedigree to fight Mercedes….but apart from BMW and Audi, who has?
    Alfa will not compete with Mercedes…
    Lancia and DS might…
    It will take a lot of time for sure but at least this time it seems like someone will invest properly in both italian brands.

    Like

    Reply

      • Lancia is not dead. Lancia is at the Hospital, laying down in a bed, ventilated. Still, in the past 40 yrs many brands appeared in the market (without any past or heritage) and succeeded. It depends on the investment and strategy…
        To be successful, brands need to be profitable… not to sell as many cars as MB in 14 days… that will take time, for any brand….
        Accura, Genesis…………..Skoda, Seat……………………all Chinese…

        Like

      • To be profitable you need to sell. Lancia has nothing to offer because its reputation has been damaged severely over the last 30 years. Fixing this will take at least 20 years, and there are other priorities within Stellantis.

        Like

      • Lancia is not dead, but Felipe hates it with unbridled passion. He also hates FCA’s brands in general. He’s by all accounts a former FCA employee, influenced by the late Sergio Marchionne, who was unwilling to invest in new product, and when the brands withered as a result he would blame the brands themselves instead of his own blatant mismanagement of them.

        Notice how Felipe does not argue that the DS brand be discontinued, even though Lancia is an infinitely stronger brand than DS ever will be. That alone shows his anti-FCA bias.

        Like

  4. For me DS is the one that should not have been created and should be killed. There is a love and a fan base for Alfa and Lancia. For the fake DS brand (not the Citroen DS) there is no fan base. The cars are weird looking, over styled and most people have no interest. It would be easy to make the smaller models like DS3 back to being a Citroen DS3. What an unnecessary waste of money this creation has been.

    As a Brit, I also think Vauxhall should be rebranded Opel. We love German cars and Stellantis has a brand to use. The Opel Monza which was was sold in the UK as an Opel in the 80s should be the car to start the switch.

    Like

    Reply

  5. Pingback: Εξάμηνο της premium Stellantis δεν φτάνει 2 εβδομάδες της Mercedes – Ευρυτανικά ΝΕΑ

  6. “The brands considered premium by Stellantis sold in H1 2021 the same quantity of cars sold by Mercedes-Benz passenger cars in just 14 days”.
    Give.Me.A,Break. Senseless comparison. As: “Mercedes sold more V8’s in 1 sec than Tesla in 100 years”

    Like

    Reply

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.