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The challenges that await Stellantis, the newly formed fourth world group born from the merger of PSA and FCA, are many, some with some degree of criticality, others that promise to be fascinating once hit. The main issue on the table of CEO Carlo Tavers is the one concerning the identity and positioning of generalist brands, the ones that will most have to represent the hard core of the portfolio of nine million sales and perhaps increase them. These are Citroën, Fiat, Peugeot and Opel, also declined in the Vauxhall variant for the United Kingdom. Fiat will predictably focus on the Mediterranean ones and will exploit the charm of the cinquino which, after becoming electric, seems to have returned to being a protagonist on the continental scene. Citroën should carve out a much more youthful image as well as aimed at women. While Peugeot could take on the role of the most fanciful brand with potential still untapped in emerging markets. Finally, Opel, the only German brand in the Stellantis group will aim to consolidate its reputation as a solid but accessible brand, ready to challenge brands with a high degree of Germanicity such as Skoda. While Vauxhall tries to compete on equal terms with the Japanese and Koreans on the British market. In this context, the French multi-energy modular architectures will have a weight: the Cmp for compact models as well as medium and the Emp2 for the larger ones.
A goal to which the new eCmp architecture, intended for compact and medium electric cars, will address, not before 2 or 3 years, which will not overlap with that developed by FCA for the New 500 which, instead, should support future city car of the Psa brands. In addition to the other eVmp, which will also be adopted by the Group’s premium brands. Finally, the Emp2 could be used for a descendant of the current Fiat Tipo. The Jeep brand, the most global of the group that will aim to become the greenest in the 4×4 sector, makes its own history. A goal to which both the Wrangler plug-in 4xe icon and the 100% electric one arriving at the end of the year will compete, in addition to the ambitious Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer and Wagoneer that revive a historic brand for the brand thirty years later.
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The two models of extra-large SUVs will then create a specific sub-brand that will target the premium customers of sport utility vehicles. Staying on the other side of the ocean, there is no conceivable shock to the plans of Chrysler, Dodge and Ram which will have a strategic role given that their sales networks, together with Jeep of course, will support the distribution in the USA of many other brands always in force at the Stellantis group.
Even from a territorial point of view, Stellantis has at least one challenge on its agenda, that of the Chinese market. If the group wants to become a global force, it must establish itself in the first market in the world, like Volkswagen and Toyota, the two groups at the top of world sales. The Chinese market is constantly evolving, with priorities changing, towards a greater focus on luxury vehicles as well as of course ecological ones.
Two sectors from which Stellantis can benefit by focusing above all on both. With the right strategy and the most suitable models for the Chinese market, it will be possible for Stellantis to triple its market share in China in a few years. A difficult challenge, perhaps the biggest that the group will have to face in the coming years, but winning it would mean being one of the players in the largest market in the world. It would be worth it.