Stellantis Answers Chrysler Descendant’s Bold Proposal

As we covered before, Frank B. Rhodes, great-grandson of Walter P. Chrysler, publicly proposed a plan to turn the Chrysler, Dodge, and Plymouth brands around. That involved a group of American investors bringing the storied brands back under domestic ownership and honoring their legacy through more iconic future models.

Meanwhile Chrysler’s CEO has a very different vision for the brand.

Stellantis has publicly responded with an official, albeit brief, press release. And as you might expect, the multinational car giant isn’t exactly excited about selling off those brands to anyone.

Instead, in the statement the company says it “acknowledges the interest in its North American brands” without directly referencing Rhodes. It later says the automaker isn’t looking at “splitting off any of its brands.”

Stellantis currently owns 14 car brands which hail from countries like the US, Italy, and France.

Instead, the auto giant reiterates a public plan to give each brand it owns a decade “to build a profitable and sustainable business.” We’re not exactly sure how the Chrysler brand, which is about as dead as a doornail at this point, is supposed to achieve such a vision.

Also referenced in the public statement is the company’s commitment to “clean mobility” which many are interpreting as electric vehicles, which we think is fair. Rhodes acknowledged in his proposal the necessity for producing EVs but worried the character and legacy of the three storied American brands would be stripped out by Stellantis in the process.

Now Rhodes and anyone looking to back him financially needs to make a decision. Stellantis is a publicly traded company, so there are ways to take things by force, but that would require considerable resources we strong doubt the man and his backers have.

In other words, this is probably where this whole saga begins and ends. We might be wrong, but for now it appears the little guy yet again gets brushed off in the interest of big players.

Image via Stellantis

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