Stellantis Places Dodge & Ram Under Creative Review Amid Financial Struggles

Stellantis is conducting creative agency reviews for five of its brands as the automaker continues to shave costs amid financial woes.

Stellantis has been quite vocal about its financial woes in the U.S., previously revealing that it was even considering axing more than one underperforming brand – and plans to build a mid-size pickup, which didn’t settle well with the United Auto Workers (UAW) union. The automaker also recently drew the ire of its dealer network amid allegations that it’s been making knee-jerk reactions when it comes to products, inundating them with inventory, and just being focused on creating profit in the short-term at the expense of the long-term. Now, as these problems continue to escalate, Stellantis has reportedly put five of its brands under creative review, according to AdAge.

Stellantis has reportedly begun conducting creative agency reviews for Dodge, Ram, Chrysler, Alfa Romeo, and Fiat, utilizing its procurement department for that process. Currently, a company called GSD&M handles Dodge’s advertising duties, while Doner is the other affected agency,  according to this report. Interestingly, however, Highdive – which manages Jeep advertisements – isn’t apparently involved in this process. When it comes to ad spending, Jeep’s $271 million in 2023 and $170 million in H1 2024 far outweighs these five brand in flux. Ram received $124 million in the first half of 2024, followed by Dodge ($32 million), Chrysler ($6 million), Alfa Romeo ($3 million), and Fiat ($2 million).

AdAge reached out to these agencies, but didn’t receive a response on the matter, though Stellantis did provide a statement.  “As a matter of standard procedure, we put our agencies through reviews when timing dictates,” said Stellantis U.S. Chief Marketing Officer Raj Register. “As a general rule, we also are not beholden to the ‘one agency fits all’ model, instead choosing to give interested agencies the opportunity to bid on creative opportunities across our U.S. brands.”

As for what this means for these brands in question, it certainly seems to be yet another attempt to review areas where Stellantis could potentially shave some costs as it continues to work to right the financial ship. It’s also possible that we’ll be seeing fewer advertisements for brands like Dodge and Ram as a result. Though one could argue this may only wind up further impact sales negatively, it may also be a necessary move, unfortunately.

Photos: Stellantis

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Brett Foote

Brett Foote has been covering the automotive industry for over five years and is a longtime contributor to Internet Brands’ Auto Group sites, including Chevrolet Forum, Rennlist, and Ford Truck Enthusiasts, among other popular sites.

He has been an automotive enthusiast since the day he came into this world and rode home from the hospital in a first-gen Mustang, and he's been wrenching on them nearly as long.

In addition to his expertise writing about cars, trucks, motorcycles, and every other type of automobile, Brett had spent several years running parts for local auto dealerships.

You can follow along with his builds and various automotive shenanigans on Instagram: @bfoote.