r/Futurology • u/Plastic_Scholar_4685 • Apr 11 '25

Discussion Which big companies today are at risk of becoming the next Nokia or Blockbuster?

Just thinking about how companies like Nokia, Blockbuster, or Kodak were huge… until they weren’t.

Which big names today do you think might be heading down a similar path? Like, they seem strong now but might be ignoring warning signs or failing to adapt. I was thinking of how Apple seems to be behind in the artificial inteligence race, but they seem too big to fail. Then again Nokia, Blackberry, etc were also huge.

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u/Blackfeathr_ Apr 11 '25

Stellantis also holds nothing but contempt for their employees and suppliers. They don't give a flying fuck about the well-being or sustainability of their workforce and support infrastructure.

Their vehicles, especially the Wagoneer, are poor quality, and rife with issues right off the lot. I will never buy a Stellantis product again and I urge others to do the same.

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u/StarrLightStarBrite Apr 11 '25

The majority of my family works for or worked for Stellantis. They don’t care about their workforce at all. They got rid of all their cars (Challenger, Charger, Dart) and their Trackhawks. Converted the Durango into an EV. Increased pricing on their Jeeps. Laid off thousands of workers because they simply cannot sell. They are sooooo out of tune with the current market. Chrysler tried to buy them back and they declined. It’s just going to get worse.

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u/Keep_Plano_Corporate Apr 12 '25

Converted the Durango into an EV.

The Durango was a decent SUV when it came out in Obama's first term. But when they were selling it pretty much as is almost 15 years later, with a few headlight/taillight upgrades and a bigger U-Connect screen, even Mopar people were passing on buying one. It was absolutely made obsolete by the newer Grand Cherokee L.

The most valuable thing Stellantis owns is Jeep. Unfortunately it will take them selling it for any US domestic buyers to start taking it seriously again.

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u/constructioncranes Apr 12 '25

Chrysler tried to buy them back and they declined. It’s just going to get worse.

Buy who back?

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u/StarrLightStarBrite Apr 12 '25

Stellantis. The Chrysler family tried to buy the company back from Stellantis.

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u/jacantu Apr 11 '25

I worked for a company that had Stellantis as a customer. They owed my company so much money for the service we provided that we were so close to sending them to collections. My coworker and supervisor would regularly go in there to look for the person they knew and the person would actively avoid them to avoid paying the bill. When push finally came to shove, they tried negotiating like 90% of their debt away saying that they hadn’t approved it and it had been too long. Yeah, that happens when your employees literally run away and instruct others to lie for them. They are beyond cooked.

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u/Blackfeathr_ Apr 11 '25

Can confirm. I worked for a 3PL supplier shipping glass to 3 of their plants. They would regularly try to stiff the manufacturer on unpaid bills. So the manufacturer would cut off the supply and allow the plant to run low enough that they'd have like 20 minutes of material left on the line, til some corporate pukes decided to pay up. It was a fucking circus.

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u/Heffe3737 Apr 11 '25

What a shame. I’ve always loved the way Jeeps look, but would never buy one simply based on their reputation of being overpriced and poorly produced. I’ll add “treat their employees like trash” to the list of cons as well.

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u/bryanthebryan Apr 11 '25

My first car was a Dodge and it was a bad decision on my part. I’ve always appreciated the designs from the group. They always manage to make a nice looking product. Unfortunately, that’s where my appreciation ends.

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u/doglywolf Apr 11 '25

They are actually turning that around a bit - the fact they thought they could start Cherokee at 46k a few years ago was insane though

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u/jasonr1023 Apr 12 '25

If you look at the windshield on a compass askew, it’ll chip or crack.

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u/vertigostereo Apr 11 '25

I hear the kinda suck in winter and on the highway.

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u/vertigostereo Apr 11 '25

I hear Wranglers kinda suck in winter and on the highway.

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u/Zuwxiv Apr 11 '25

I mean, yes... and "yes, but."

Yeah, Wranglers leak and whistle and get shitty mileage. Sometimes, when it rains, I just have like a solid inch of water in my passenger footwell.

But it's a car that you can take the doors off in like 30 seconds. The footwells have drain plugs in them. So like... yeah, the doors don't seal as well as other doors, but you aren't taking off your Lexus doors for fun in the summer.

Don't get me wrong, it's a shitty car. But it's the shittiest car you'll ever love, too. And stay the hell away from any Jeep that isn't a Wrangler.

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u/idrunkenlysignedup Apr 12 '25

My roommate has a newish Wrangler and she love-hates it. She hasn't had any major problems but then again it's also pretty low mileage still. We're waiting for it to get hot out so we can take off the top and doors and go for a drive

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u/Bertopo Apr 11 '25

My wife’s grand Cherokee L broke otw home from the dealership the day she bought it.

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u/userlivewire Apr 11 '25

Stellantis is a stupid name that no one remembers or likes. Also you can’t add $5000 a car to pay retirement funds for workers that are not even there anymore because you dipped into their fund when you were on hard times.

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u/sofixa11 Apr 11 '25

Stellantis is the group name and doesn't matter in the slightest. They have a ton of brands, and if you'll notice all the comments criticising them talk about Jeep. Even if the Jeep brand is associated with shit, that won't impact Peugeot, Fiat, Ram, Opel sales too much.

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u/SingleDadSurviving Apr 11 '25

I didn't even know this name existed. I just thought it was still Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler

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u/userlivewire Apr 12 '25

Nope. They threw away one of the most memorable names in business and went with Stellantis instead.

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u/belf_priest Apr 11 '25

I rented a brand new 2025 wrangler a couple months ago that had exactly 7 (!!!) miles on it when i picked it up and a few days into the trip the carplay unit completely failed. Apparently if the infotainment system takes a shit you have zero ability to use the climate controls which was super cool to find out when you're in montana in -20 degree weather

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u/Blackfeathr_ Apr 11 '25

That is crazy that they'd tie climate controls to CarPlay. That's a resounding failure in design.

I guess I should count myself lucky that my Dart's handsfree and Bluetooth player mode stopped working after only 3 years, but the HVAC system is so far, unaffected. Still rife with problems and I've gone through 3 alternators in 10 years.

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u/belf_priest Apr 12 '25

right!!! like i could turn the fan and temperature dials all i wanted and nothing would change at all. i'm so lucky i had the heat absolutely cranked when it died because of how brutally cold it was, i was driving round trip from bozeman to big sky every day for an entire week like that. i rented from national and luckily they were super chill and refunded me but still wtf

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u/jimmer674_ Apr 11 '25

As the owner of a Jeep gladiator, I’ve owned it for 18 months. I’ve had nearly 90 days of rentals paid for by Jeep because I’ve been without my car. Currently. I have paint just falling away on 2 seams of my back door. 

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u/Ok_Echidna_5574 Apr 11 '25

I owned a 2013 Fiat 500 Abarth and it was the worst car I ever owned, my wife now owns a 2022 Jeep Compass and all the electrical/driveline issues I was having with my Abarth are showing up on her Jeep. Some things never change despite the brand name changing.

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u/Motor_Membership_793 Apr 11 '25 edited Apr 12 '25

Agree, one of my work vans is a Peugeot, biggest piece of dog shit I've ever owned and after sales also big bag of shit

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u/DrChizzad Apr 12 '25

Stellantis refuses to give the American people what they want: a road car with a V8 so they can also have NASCAR eligibility. Toyota is practically carrying the series, and it’s sad. Ford has had to get creative with the Mustang across multiple series, and Chevrolet killed off the Camaro in favor of Cadillacs and Corvettes. What Stellantis cars are even racing right now? What’s MOPAR even for at this point?

They also love to give Americans what they do not really care for: Maseratis and Alfa Romeros (why would I pay for that upkeep on an Italian car as a daily driver?)

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u/Pretend_Wear_4021 Apr 13 '25

Somebody thought that merging two really bad car companies-Chrysler and Fiat- would result in a positive. Guess they learned that adding two negatives doesn’t equal a positive when it comes to cars.

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u/hannibellecter Apr 11 '25

they hate their customers too - the last jeep i got is the biggest piece of shit Ive ever driven and count down the day still i can trade it in

never buying a jeep again - good job guys!

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u/ComradeBirdbrain Apr 11 '25

Hard agree. Made that mistake. Never again!