Cao Wei, president of Lianyungang Xuncheng Auto Sales and Service, and one of the letter’s organizers, told Reuters that more dealers would join the petition and estimated they would ultimately seek total compensation of 900 million yuan ($130 million) from Stellantis.
They are asking Stellantis to pay them 18 million yuan for each store affected to cover the losses including initial investments and severance payments and to refund their deposits and pay sales rebates, the letter showed.
Cao said Stellantis had refused to pay what he called the “basic bill,” which includes deposits and sales rebates, to at least 50 dealers who were authorized by the JV to sell locally produced Jeep vehicles in China.
The Jeep venture’s Chinese shareholder had agreed to pay 50 percent of that bill to all dealers, but Stellantis had refused to pay the rest, as it did not recognize them as authorized dealerships, Cao said.
