Stellantis, new multi energy strategies to overcome difficulties

Falling sales, falling revenues, models frozen if not cancelled and plants with a decidedly uncertain future. Stellantis is facing its worst moment since its birth in 2021, when Fiat Chrysler Automobilies decided to merge with PSA to become a 14-brand mega-group. And three years on, due to the state of health of the European automotive industry, which is increasingly focused on margins rather than volumes, the group led by Carlos Tavares needs to understand (or clarify definitively) how to react. And it is not just an Italian issue, where we have gone from 'one million vehicles produced in Italy by 2030' declared at the presentation of the 2023 accounts, to a generic 'one million customers' reiterated by Tavares himself last October, but a general one for the entire group. Confirmation comes from the recent restructuring, with CEOs replaced like Maserati's Davide Grasso, and deep doubts about plants, upcoming models and jobs.

And despite many meetings with the press and the Italian government, Stellantis' strategy is not entirely clear. Initially, the electricity transition was to be based on four platforms and three software-defined technologies. In detail, Stellantis' family of four global bev platforms - Small, Medium, Large and Frame - was conceived and designed to extend the life cycle of vehicles through the interchangeability of battery cell chemistry, electrical drive modules, power inverters and control software. The Stla Large platform supports Stellantis' next-generation electrical and software-defined technologies: Stla Brain, Stla SmartCockpit and Stla AutoDrive.

In reality, the SmartCar platform has, for the time being, taken the place of Stla Small, thanks to lower development costs (despite zero stars in some crash tests)

On Stla Medium, instead, Peugeot 3008, 5008 and Opel Grandland have already been presented. In 2025, three more models will arrive under the Ds brand, Citroen and the new Jeep Compass; in 2026 it will be the turn of the Lancia Gamma and another DS. The Peugeot 3008 sums up the uncertainty of the automotive world well: initially it was supposed to be electric only, but in reality it has also become a hybrid. Translation? Peugeot cannot afford to lose the sales volumes guaranteed by those who want a mid-size suv with internal combustion. Moving on to the Stla Large we have the Jeep Wagooner S, Charger Daytona and by the end of the year the Jeep Recon should be unveiled.

In '25 the first electric Alfa Romeo based on Stla Large, a Dodge and a Jeep will probably arrive, and in '26 a Chrysler model and the second Alfa Bev. Even larger dimensions for the Stla Frame, a multi-energy platform intended for future pick-ups and full-size SUVs powered by lithium ions, traditional fuels and even hydrogen with fuel cells.