Welcome to the Daily 5 report for Thursday, Oct. 2.
Antonio Filosa officially has been CEO of Stellantis for just over three months and there are already signs of progress emerging at the automaker following the troubled reign of former CEO Carlos Tavares.
The company's best news in recent months came out yesterday. Stellantis' U.S. sales rose 6.2 percent in the third quarter, ending an eight-quarter slump, with Jeep recording its second consecutive quarterly gain, Vince Bond Jr. reported.
Sales at the volume-leading Jeep brand rose 11 percent as deliveries jumped for the Wrangler, Gladiator, Grand Cherokee, Wagoneer and Wagoneer S. The Pacifica drove Chrysler's 45 percent increase during the quarter, Bond wrote.
The results triggered a rare rally for Stellantis stock. Shares rose 7.9 percent to close at $10.40 today on the New York Stock Exchange.
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Filosa also signaled that he's listening to his U.S. dealers. The company is hiring more than 200 people to bolster its sales, service and parts field operations, reversing head count reductions that happened under Tavares, Bond reported in this story.
The hiring blitz aims to have field managers responsible for about 10 dealerships each, Darren Bradshaw, Stellantis North America's senior vice president of parts and services, told Automotive News. Today, many of those managing parts and service operations handle about 20 stores, and there's a 15-to-1 ratio for employees in sales, our story says.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported today that Stellantis is considering a potential sale of its car-sharing business Free2move. While the discussions appear to be in the early stages, a broader review of Stellantis' assets and its industrial footprint is underway with a goal of presenting a new business plan to investors in the first quarter next year, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
All this news suggests Filosa is making tough decisions and placing his imprimatur on the company's strategic direction.
In other news, Jack Walsworth reported on the third-generation Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid. The model is arriving at a time of heightened interest in hybrids by U.S. shoppers and the competition is a remarkably small set with just the Toyota Corolla Cross and Kia Niro, Walsworth wrote.
That's it for today. If you want to view this story in your browser, click here.
— Philip Nussel, online editor
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