Stellantis up, new rumours of military production at US auto group sites

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Positive session for Stellantis at Piazza Affari, in a context marked by new developments on the AI theme for the group, but also by the debate on the possible industrial reconversion of the automotive industry towards defence. The latter topic has in fact resurfaced after rumours of contacts between the Pentagon and groups such as Ford and General Motorsto evaluate the use of civil production capacity in the production of military components. The discussions, according to sources quoted by the New York Times, are "at a very early stage" and mainly concern components and not complete weapons systems, in a context of urgency related to the conflict with Iran and support for Ukraine, which have reduced ammunition stocks.

Equita's analysts, while considering these rumours realistic, believe that "the timeframe is not short, it requires investment at least in machinery and possibly only concerns a small part of the production capacity", adding that "we are not surprised that the Pentagon seems to have contacted only local players, given that Stellantis is not mentioned", although without ruling out future developments at Italia or European level in this sense. The US approach, if confirmed, would recall well-known historical precedents, such as industrial reconversion during the Second World War. But today it has operational limits, according to experts. Military production today requires more specialised techniques, which are often incompatible with existing facilities. Without investment to adapt, therefore, the reconversion 'will not work', as pointed out by industry analysts quoted in the US press, who point out significant timeframes and investments that would make the impact limited in the short term.

Stellantis is looking at what is happening overseas not only on the war front, but especially on the technology front. Evidence of this is the recently announced collaboration with Microsoft, which involves the co-development of more than 100 artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives across the entire value chain, from customer care to production, including 'to support cyber threat prevention and the protection of vehicles, customers and operations worldwide', explains a joint note. Targets also include a 60 per cent reduction in data centre footprint by 2029. "By partnering with Microsoft, we are further accelerating our momentum on AI across the enterprise," Ned Curic, Chief Engineering & Technology Officer at Stellantis, commented in the note. "By combining Stellantis' global scale and engineering excellence with Microsoft's trusted cloud, artificial intelligence and security platforms, we are creating tangible value for millions of drivers around the world," concluded Judson Althoff, Ceo of Microsoft's Commercial Sector.