(Yicai) Sept. 12 -- Prices of Jeep parts have skyrocketed by more than 10 times in China in less than a year since GAC FCA, a joint venture co-founded by GAC Group and Stellantis Group which used to produce such vehicles in the Asian nation, filed for bankruptcy.

There are shortages of components for imported and domestically produced Jeeps so black market vendors can sell a front bumper with an original price tag of CNY2,000 to CNY3,000 (USD274 to USD412) for CNY40,000 or even CNY50,000 (USD5,490 to USD6,862), Yicai learned by calling dealerships in more than 20 provinces and cities in China and reading car owners' feedback on online complaint platforms.

Last October, GAC FCA filed for bankruptcy in court after logging dwindling sales. According to Chinese regulations, a carmaker needs to guarantee after-sales services for 10 years after vehicle production stops. But the supply is smaller than demand as China has 950,000 owners of homegrown Jeeps since GAC FCA was founded in 2010 and the number of imported car owners exceeds one million, according to sales data.

Disgruntled Jeep owners have complained to local authorities about insufficient after-sales services whereas dealers also feel wronged. "I even want to sue Chrysler China," a dealer told Yicai, explaining the distributor stopped supplying cars to the dealer before the contract expired.

In February, Stellantis, the owner of marquees Citroen and Peugeot, said on Weibo it will offer daily maintenance and after-sales services for China-made Jeeps, as well as domestically produced or imported Fiat vehicles sold by GAC FCA.

Before that, in late 2022, Chrysler China, a subsidiary of Stellantis, sent an email to dealers to say that the company will terminate its agreements with dealers in advance and will no longer import vehicles that can meet China’s compliance requirements from June 30, 2023, due to GAC FAC’s bankruptcy.

In mid-November 2022, almost 30 auto dealers sought help from municipal governments in Guangzhou and Changsha to refund deposits paid to GAC FAC. By Nov. 30, the group expanded to around 50 dealers with a total of about CNY230 million (USD31.6 million) in claims.

Several dealers told Yicai that Guangzhou-based GAC, which has a 50-percent stake in GAC FCA, has paid most of the refunds so far but Stellantis and Chrysler China have been largely out of touch.

GAC FCA and Chrysler China reportedly once had more than 500 dealers in China, and by the time GAC FCA declared bankruptcy, about 200 were still operational.

Editor: Emmi Laine