CEO Filosa threw another sop to the eco-minded by referencing this year’s all-electric Jeep Recon, but that project kicked off under his predecessor Carlos Tavares – and the new regime has U-turned to add a petrol variant. Aside from the US getting the new Jeep Compass already on European sale, the 4×4 brand’s namechecked offerings were big beasts: Cherokee, Grand Cherokee, Wrangler, Gladiator and Grand Wagoneer, which is set for hybrid REx power too.
”This region represents the biggest opportunity for our growth and our profitability,” said Filosa, predicting that North America would grow revenues by 25 per cent compared with Europe’s 15. The lack of Chinese competition and regulation certainly make for a simpler walled garden in which to operate.
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Stellantis’s big Chrysler plan will grow it from one model, the Pacifica MPV, by adding three crossovers. The Airflow is based on STLA One, while the Arrow and Arrow Cross will be revamped versions of the Fiat Grizzly SUVs. They’ll act as a kind of Stateside Dacia, pushing Stellantis into the $25,000-$35,000 budget market.
New partnerships – including with JLR
Filosa sees partnerships as a crucial cost-cutting initiative. Stellantis will get 800,000 units of European manufacturing capacity off its back by reconfiguring plants and inviting Chinese partners to take capacity. Leapmotor is moving into two Spanish factories, while a similar joint-venture with Dongfeng in Rennes, France, will see the Chinese build its upmarket Voyahs for Stellantis distribution.
But the most intriguing is a memorandum of understanding to explore product and technology synergies with JLR. It’s early days but the industrial logic of co-developing Jeep and Land Rover vehicles, and building them Stateside to help the Brits swerve tariffs and the Americans better utilise factories, is clear to see.
At the end of the plan, Stellantis hopes to be earning €190 billion (£164 billion) in revenue, with a seven per cent operating margin. But the road won’t be easy. “My whole working life has been spent in the automotive industry, and there has never been a time of greater change and challenge,” said John Elkann. “Competition is intense, technology cycles are accelerating and the external environment remains highly volatile. But we are approaching this next phase with lucidity, agility and ambition, all tempered by humility and an understanding that success is not achieved in one day, it is achieved day by day, with a relentless focus on execution.”
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