Maserati Promises To Get Its Act Together Soon
In this morning's edition, Maserati says better things are coming soon, Tesla falls in China once again and Ford's employee pricing for all is working really well, but it still can't get out of its own way when it comes to recalls.
Read more: These Are What You Wanted As First Cars (And What You Got Instead)
Maserati is finalizing a new business plan that it expects to reveal shortly. The roadmap to right Maserati's sinking ship is set to be revealed soon after Stellantis' new CEO, Antonio Filosa, starts his job at the end of this month.
The Italian automaker has had a rough go of it for some time now with slow sales, questionable-at-best quality and a lackluster product lineup. At the moment, there are no new model launches on the schedule as its parent company reviews its strategies. A previous revival plan was put on hold in 2024. From Reuters:
Maserati CEO Santo Ficili said the plan was being finalised and would not just include new products but also redesign relations with dealers and the assistance network.
"We have clear ideas about what we want to do, we hope we can be ready very soon," Ficili said at the Motor Valley Fest in the Italian city of Modena, where Maserati is headquartered.
"Let's wait for Antonio to take up his job," he added.
Stellantis last week named its North American chief Filosa, an Italian national, as its new CEO. His appointment will be effective from June 23.
"Antonio loves the (Maserati) brand, I am sure we'll do great things," Ficili said, adding Maserati will continue to design, engineer and manufacture all its models in Italy.
Asked about market speculation that Stellantis could assess a sale of Maserati amid poor results and falling sales, Ficili reiterated the group had no plans at all to divest from it.
Alfa Romeo fans should start getting (cautiously) excited as well. Ficili, who also heads Alfa, says a review of the troubled Italian automaker is imminent as well. Stellantis has hired consulting firm McKinsey to advise on strategies for both Maserati and Alfa as they face the U.S. tariff storm. The U.S. is crucial for both brands. It accounts for about 30% of Maserati's sales and 15% of Alfa's.
I suppose time will tell if Masertai's upcoming plan to save itself will be enough to, you know, save itself. I really hope it can pull through. I know it has the juice to make a great car like the GranTurismo and GranCabrio, but it needs more than a good driver's car if it wants to stay afloat.
Tesla's Chinese vehicle shipments fell for an eighth straight month, exacerbating the global sales slump it has had to deal with since CEO Elon Musk decided to get all weird and alt-right-y. The Austin, Texas-based automaker shipped just 61,662 Model 3s and Model Ys from its Shanghai plant in May. That's a 15% drop from the same time last year.
Further magnifying Tesla's problem is the fact China is going through a bit of a sales boom right now — especially with EVs and hybrids. Their sales have risen an estimated 38% to 1.24 million units. From Bloomberg:
The snapshot from China signals the downturn in Tesla's sales across major global markets may have further to run. Registrations across some of Europe's biggest EV markets tumbled in April even as Tesla started shipping the redesigned Model Y SUV to customers. Chinese EV giant BYD Co. sold more EVs in Europe than Tesla for the first time ever in April, according to market researcher Jato Dynamics.
Musk has said he's committed to leading Tesla and expects to pare back his political spending after his level of engagement with the carmaker came under growing scrutiny. His involvement in global politics and close ties to US President Donald Trump have sparked protests across the US and Europe and has weighed on EV sales.
Will this cause Musk to change his ways? Probably not, but that'll just make this implosion even funnier to watch.
Ford's sales were up in May, and its employee pricing program seems to be a big reason why. Customers looked for ways to be Trump's automotive tariffs before they got here. The Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker saw a 16.3% year-over-year sales gain in May. Not too shabby.
All in all, it sold 220,959 vehicles in the fifth month of the year, driven by truck and SUV sales. Hell, even Lincoln saw a 39% sales increase to 11,573 vehicles. Shocking, I know. From the Detroit Free Press:
"The monthly sales were better than feared and is a small step in the right direction," Dan Ives, managing director at Wedbush Securities, told the Detroit Free Press on June 3. But there's "still a lot of wood to chop ahead for (CEO) Jim Farley and Ford with tariffs and demand issues."
[...]
Sales of its SUVs surged 25% when compared with May 2024 to 94,595 SUVs sold. Sales of pickups rose 11.2% to 121,354 units sold. But sales of Ford's electric vehicles plunged 25% to 6,723 EVs sold as overall consumer demand for EVs has slowed. Ford's F-150 Lightning EV sold just 1,902, a 42% decline, which also brought down the segment.
[...]
Year to date, Ford Motor's total sales are up 6.1% to 930,925 vehicles sold compared with the first five months of 2024. Of the Detroit-based automakers, only Ford reports monthly sales.
Ford has been offering employee pricing for all of its U.S. customers since April 3, and it's set to run for at least another month until July 6. Between that program and people who want to buy cars before Trump's tariffs kick in.
Good for Ford. It really needed a win... as you're about to see.
One day, Ford will figure out its massive recall problem, but today is not that day. The automaker is recalling 556,043 vehicles in the U.S. in two separate recalls, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 492,145 of those are made up of 2016-2017 Explorers with B-pillar trim detachment issues, though just 4% are expected to be impacted. The other 63,898 are Mavericks that have loose or dislodged passenger airbag indicators. Luckily, Ford says it's not aware of any injuries or accidents caused by either recall. From Automotive News:
In affected vehicles, the B-pillar trim may become detached, creating a hazard for surrounding drivers and increasing the risk of a crash.
Ford issued a technical service bulletin to dealers regarding loose driver's side B-pillar trim in 2019, NHTSA said. The automaker did not think this posed a safety risk, but opened an investigation in March after receiving customer complaints from NHTSA.
The automaker is aware of 1,482 warranty claims related to the defect. Dealers were notified of the recall May 27. Owners can expect to be notified June 9-13. Owners will receive another letter once a remedy is developed.
025 model-year trucks.
The indicator may be loose or dislodged inside the instrument panel. Ford estimates about half the vehicles will be affected.
Ford became aware of the issue during a predelivery inspection in April, NHTSA said. The automaker is aware of one warranty claim related to the defect.
Owners can expect to be notified June 9-13. Dealers, who were notified of the recall May 23, will install retaining clips for the indicator free of charge after owners receive a second letter Sept. 22-26.
Oh, Ford. What are we going to do with you?
To learn more about this Dancing Crab moment, head over to History.com.
It's finally getting hot in New York City, which means that it's time to pull out the Summer bops like "Steal My Sunshine." Those are the rules.
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