Stellantis

Driving a Stellantis?

   “Good morning neighbor.  What do you think of my new Stellantis?”  You children out there will soon be asking that question.  As a person having The Wisdom of The Aged, you will never hear that question pass my lips.  My first car was a 1940 Mercury.  Most of you reading this think of mercury as the red stuff in a thermometer.  Some have never heard of a thermometer.  Times change, but in this lifetime I will not own a Stellantis (unless someone purchases it for me when I am in assisted living).  “Never say never.”

   So, what the hell is Stellantis?  It sounds like a civilization from the past, or a name for a new lizard like monster starring in a Japanese block buster film (an AI creation).  But no, it is the name of a new conglomeration of automotive corporate enterprises.  What great automobiles have joined it, becoming icons of the past?  Abarth (no one ever heard of them anyway), Alfa Romeo (story to follow), Chrysler (I have a 2006 PT Cruiser now), Citroen (ugliest car in history), Dodge, DS Automobiles (never heard of them either), FIAT (fix it again Tony), Jeep (!), Lancia, Maserati, Opel, Peugeot, Ram (Dodge), Vauxhall.  Many of these iconic names will not be missed, but many are an important part of our shared heritage.  Are you ready to attend a NASCAR race and root for Stellantis?  My friend, I am not.

   My story of Alpha Romero was that my first love went to Berkley and dated (later married) a guy that drove an Alpha.  Cars were not expensive then so I went out and bought a used Alpha Spider, thinking “it was the car.”  Cars were important to me at the time so I wrongly assumed that they were equally important to her.  I obviously still have this illusion and that explains this blog post.

   Corporate mergers always mean less competition, more profit and higher costs to the public.  They are an integral part of The Free Market System that we all love and respect.  Medicare presently pays one hundred and ninety-five thousand dollars a year for my meds to AbbVie, thanks to our Free Market Economy (see Golden Goose Economics elsewhere in this blog).

   The public relations justification for Stellantis is concentration of transportation development based in renewable energy (sun power) versus fossil (dinosaur) fuel.   That sounds like a good idea, but read the fine print.  All corporate action is motivated by profit, not public good.

  Don’t let Stellantis take away your identity.

Cheers, Old Buz, a Ram (Dodge Truck) lover

Iambloggerbuz.blogspot.com

“Beware of corporations bearing gifts.” – Tros, the Founder of Troy, 3,000 BC