Australian Jeep dealers fear local withdrawal, seek legal advice

Jeep dealers in Australia are so concerned about the local future of the iconic 4x4 brand they are seeking legal advice about their rights.

In an email seen by carsales, automotive legal expert Evan Stents at HWL Ebsworth is asked to complete a legal review of the Jeep dealer body’s “legal standing”.

Stents also represented Holden dealers when General Motors shut down its network and closed the brand in 2021.

Jeep is distributed in Australia by the local division of its parent Stellantis, the automotive giant produced by the merger of Fiat Chrysler and France’s PSA Group in 2021.

“Stellantis has slowly been strangling the network into handing back the franchise so as to save an [sic] exit costs (I believe),” the email obtained by carsales from a senior dealer to Stents claimed.

Fundamental to the dealers’ concerns are:

“How do we prove that they [Stellantis] have deliberately been negligent in serving the Australian market in order to exit without having to pay compensation/hope dealers don’t kick up a fuss,” asked another email circulated among Jeep dealers and seen by carsales.

In response to a detailed set of questions sent to Stellantis Australia about the future of Jeep in Australia, carsales received only a brief response.

“The Jeep brand remains fully committed to the Australian market and Stellantis continues to invest heavily in its global product portfolio,” it said.

carsales sought comment from a Jeep dealer involved in the email communications, but he declined.

Instead, we were referred the Australian Automotive Dealers Association, which said it would not comment on any legal actions between its members and an OEM but was “watching the situation closely”.

Dealer are seeking legal clarification ahead of Stellantis Asia Pacific COO Ashwani Muppasani’s visit later to Australia this month.

The leaking of these confidential emails to carsales is likely designed to impose public focus and pressure on Stellantis to clarify its local position on Jeep.

The company is in a state of flux globally as it seeks a new CEO to replace the abruptly departed Carlos Tavares.

Among many senior management changes Stellantis is undergoing in the wake of Tavares’ departure, Jeep’s North American head Bob Broderdorf has been named to lead the brand globally.

In Australia, Stellantis is run by former Holden executive Michael Filazzola. Apart from Jeep, it also distributes Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Fiat and has just launched the Chinese brand Leapmotor here.

Other Stellantis brands are managed by Ateco (Ram, Maserati) and Inchcape (Peugeot).

Ateco also has distribution rights to Jeep in New Zealand.

In 2021 Stellantis pulled Chrysler out of the Australian market, while in 2024 Inchcape relinquished its rights to Citroen and effectively replaced it with the Chinse EV brand Deepal.

There has been industry rumour for some time that Ateco had been offered distribution rights to Stellantis brands in Australia, including Jeep.

An official statement from Ateco did little to quell the speculation: “As the largest independent automotive distributor in Australasia (across four automotive brands in Australia and six automotive brands in New Zealand), the Ateco Group is always open to the opportunity to expand our extensive distribution network in these markets.”

“The Ateco Group remains committed to the Jeep business in New Zealand where we have been the official factory-backed importer since 2013.”

But’s also worth noting Ram Trucks – of which Ateco pioneered local right-hand drive conversion with Walkinshaw Automotive Group – is already by far the most lucrative and successful Stellantis brand in Australia.

It is understood Muppasani will also meet with Ateco while in Australia, although Stellantis insists his visit is orthodox and scheduled.

Jeep’s previous sales success in Australia was largely driven by value pricing for the third generation WK Grand Cherokee SUV.

But it also foundered because of the Grand Cherokee’s extensive reliability issues and the over-stressed dealer network’s inability to resolve them quickly.

Price rises have also removed the Jeep brand from many buyers’ consideration.

When it launched in Australia in 2022, the cheapest WL Grand Cherokee was some $20,000 more expensive than its predecessor.

That pricing was later cut by $28,000 as sales plummeted.

In 2019, then Jeep global boss Christian Meunier declared a 50,000 annual sales goal for Jeep in Australia. Meunier now works at Nissan.

The brand also became embroiled in high-profile sponsorship scandal along with its former local boss, Clyde Campbell.

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