Making agreements, creating increasingly large industrial groups and creating synergies has been (and is) the key to success in the automotive world. By now the strategy is clear and it is precisely on this route that Stellantis is leading its battleship: from the merger between the PSA and FCA groups it has put together 14 car brands (Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Citroën, Dodge, DS Automobiles, Fiat, Jeep, Lancia, Maserati, Opel, Peugeot, Ram Trucks and Vauxhall). All to implement extraordinary economies of scale. The group has production sites in 29 countries in Europe, America, Africa and Asia and on the electrification front, coincidentally, one of its most important parties is at stake.
Italian tech Week 2021, Ficili (Stellantis) and Lio (Accenture): the electric factor
Stellantis intends to become the market leader in low-emission vehicles. Between now and 2030, the goal is for LEVs (low emission vehicles) to represent over 70% of sales in Europe and more than 40% of those in the United States. All 14 brands of the Group are thus committed to offering best-in-class totally electrified solutions.
With a very pragmatic strategy, however, as explained by Carlos Tavares himself, CEO of Stellantis: “The customer is always the top priority and our commitment, with this investment plan of over 30 billion euros, is to offer iconic vehicles with of performance, functionality, style, comfort and electric autonomy capable of integrating perfectly into everyday life. The strategy we have defined today assigns the right amount of investments to the technologies necessary to arrive on the market at the right time, ensuring that Stellantis can strengthen freedom of movement in the most efficient, economical and sustainable way “.
The basic idea is to create and market affordable models, within the reach of the widest possible audience. A strategy that not only clearly differentiates Stellantis from the rest of the world (where everyone makes or tries to make premium electric models to have more profit margins) but which will greatly help the spread of this technology.
This does not mean that the giant led by Tavares renounces high-end electrified models: Maserati, Jeep and DS Automobiles have already announced development plans on this front.
And here a leading role was assigned to the young, indeed very young DS Automobiles. And the reason is well explained by Béatrice Foucher herself (CEO of the brand): «The automotive industry – explains the manager – is undergoing a transformation whose breadth and speed are unprecedented. As a pioneer, DS Automobiles anticipated this change by placing electrification at the heart of its strategy. The next developments in the legislation and ecosystem of electric vehicles provide opportunities that we want to offer to our customers who already appreciate our electrified range. We made the decision to accelerate development to create a new art of 100% electric travel, appreciable in terms of driving fun and competitive in terms of quality and performance; a new art of travel, constantly hi-tech and at the same time refined. It is a bold plan that will take shape starting from 2024 ».
It must be said that since its launch, DS Automobiles has put electrification at the heart of its strategy with a 100% electrified range since 2019. And that in 2020 DS Automobiles was also the leading multi-energy brand in Europe with the most low average CO2 emissions (83.1 g / km), thanks to its electrified range (which totaled 30% of registrations).
Of course, from the point of view of the image it is more impressive to see a Maserati supercar as silent as the wind (it is coming), an Abarth racing on the track powered by batteries or a Jeep rolling in the mud with only electric drive.
But then in the end the role of putting on the market “vehicles capable of integrating perfectly into everyday life” as Tavares said will be covered by Fiat, Opel, Peugeot and Citroen. “Generalist” brands as they say in the jargon, capable of pushing hard on the market and really making electric cars fly.
In short, a revolution supported by a precise strategy to meet the extraordinary need for batteries and components for electric cars and vans: five gigafactories will open in Europe and North America, to which other supply and partnership contracts will be added to support the total demand.
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