Stellantis, 5 years since the merger between Fca and Psa. The history of the group

To date, the portfolio includes: Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Citroen, Dodge, Ds, Fiat, Fiat Professional, Jeep, Lancia, Leapmotor, Maserati, Opel, Peugeot, Ram.

2021 can be framed as the year of industrial adjustment. The first year of Stellantis is still strongly influenced by the industrial legacies of the two groups. Global production stands at around 6.1 million vehicles, down from its theoretical potential, mainly due to the semiconductor crisis. The factories are working at a reduced rate, but the group favours high-margin models: Jeep Compass, Renegade, Ram 1500, Peugeot 3008 and 208. In terms of product, 2021 is a year of transition: few truly new launches, many 'tails' of PSA and FCA projects already approved before the merger. It is the last year in which the two industrial worlds remain visibly separate.

Global production rises slightly to around 6.3 million vehicles in 2022. Stellantis begins to rationalise the offer: fewer versions, fewer engines, more standardisation. The first signs of convergence arrive: models such as the Peugeot 408, Jeep Avenger and the new Opel Astra and Citroën C5 X show a clear PSA imprint, with FCA benefiting especially on the electrification front.

The Jeep Avenger becomes the symbol of this phase: produced in Poland, on a CMP base, it is the first Jeep designed explicitly for Europe ready for the transition to 100% electric.

2023 is the peak production year of the post-merger period, with around 6.4 million vehicles assembled globally. However, the figure hides a growing tension: volumes are supported more by North America than by Europe, while in several European plants (including Italy) plant utilisation remains lower than expected.

In 2024, global production will fall below 5.8 million vehicles, with a particularly marked decline in the US and Europe. Here the crux becomes clear: defending margins has meant giving up volumes, but when demand slows down the mechanism jams.

Dealers accumulate stock, some models are out of the market in terms of price and content, and the electric range appears misaligned with Chinese and Korean competitors. This is the year in which Stellantis discovers that product strategy cannot be just a variable of financial strategy.

When Stellantis presented its industrial architecture, it identified four major multi-energy platforms: STLA Small, STLA Medium, STLA Large and STLA Frame. Starting with the STLA Small, the platform for city cars and electric B-segment, STLA Small was supposed to support the relaunch of Fiat, Lancia and Citroën in the heart of the European market. Five years after the merger, however, no STLA Small model is still in production. Fiat continues to live on previous architectures (electric 500 on a dedicated base, Panda on an outdated platform) and to see the new Peugeot 208 on a STLA Small base we will have to wait until 2027. Moving on to STLA Medium, the platform that replaced PSA's old EMP2, a long list of models are produced such as the Peugeot 3008, 5008, Opel Grandland, Jeep Compass and DS No. 8, the recent Peugeot 308 and in the future will be used on several models including Lancia Delta. Assembled at plants in Eisenach, Melfi, Rennes and Sochaux, it is designed to be used on models between 430 and 490 cm long, with a wheelbase of up to 290 cm and with front-wheel drive or 4x4. Larger models will arrive on the STLA Large, a strategic platform for North America and premium brands (Jeep, Dodge, Alfa Romeo). Brought to debut by the Dodge Charger Daytona, it will also arrive on future Lancia, Alfa Romeo and Maserati models. The latest architecture is the STLA Frame, dedicated to pickups and body-on-frame vehicles for Ram and Jeep. In this case, autonomies of up to 800 kilometres are expected for electric vehicles and characteristics suitable for work vehicles.

In the five years of the Stellantis era, a long list of models of high commercial success and strategic importance have been produced and launched. Starting with ex-Fca brands, the Jeep Avenger is surely the most significant not only for its sales results and for winning the Car of the Year award in 2023, but for its debut in the compact SUV segment and for a truly multi-energy range. It is impossible to forget the Fiat 500, recently arrived in a mild hybrid version based on the shape of the electric version, the Grande Panda built on the platform shared with the Citroen C3 and the 600. Moving on to Alfa Romeo, the change of name of the compact suv (from Milano to Junior, a change that took place after the launch) will remain in history, while Tonale expanded its range of high-wheelers. Lancia changed positioning with the Ypsilon, a very close relative of the Opel Corsa and Peugeot 208, while Maserati launched the Grecale in 2022. On the former PSA front, Peugeot is changing positioning (upwards) starting with the 3008, while Citroen seems to have finally found its space with 'smart' models with a good price/performance ratio such as the recent C5 Aircross. On the US side, Ram has said goodbye to the electric version and arrived in Europe with the 1500.

Five years after the merger, Stellantis is no longer just a story of margins and synergies. Platforms were designed, but not yet fully transformed into products; brands were preserved, but not all relaunched; factories were defended, but often under-utilised. The transition from Carlos Tavares to Antonio Filosa marks precisely this change of perspective: from the control of numbers to the recovery of the centrality of the product. Because in the automotive industry, in the end, accounts always follow cars. And Stellantis, today, must prove that it still knows how to build them at the right time.