Vauxhall owner Stellantis recalls plug-in hybrids over fire risk

Stellantis, the troubled automotive group, has recalled nearly 200,000 plug-in hybrids amid fears they could spontaneously catch fire, just a day after issuing a shock profit warning.
The company, whose biggest brand in the UK is Vauxhall, said it was recalling 194,000 Jeep-badged vehicles, mainly in North America, over reports of fires in cars parked with the ignition turned off.
The models concerned are Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Grand Cherokee plug-in hybrids. The company told owners to park the vehicles outdoors, away from their homes, and refrain from charging until a fix was delivered.
A routine review of customer data led to an investigation that found 13 fires with two injuries. Stellantis estimates that 5 per cent of the models identified may have the problem. Jeep is a relatively low-selling brand in the UK with just 0.3 per cent of the market and it was not immediately known whether any British owners are affected.
The recall is the latest setback for a company that blamed problems in the US, a build-up of backlog from falling sales, for this week’s profit warning in which it said it could burn through up to €10 billion of cash in this financial year and would see profit margins plummet. It has ordered a cutback in American production.
The slowdown in the electric vehicle (EV) market has also led to Stellantis extending the suspension of production of electric Fiat 500s by another three weeks until November 1, due to weak orders. The company said it had told trade unions that the EV market in Europe was “in deep trouble”.
Its shares, which lost nearly 15 per cent of their value after Monday’s profit warning, remained under pressure in early trading on Tuesday before later rallying.
A research note from Jefferies, the broker, said Stellantis needed to reassess its business plan. “The management team needs to demonstrate the ability to manage scale and brands to recover market share,” it said.