What now, Stellantis?

At the Brussels Motor Show, we spoke with a couple of top managers at Stellantis. The group caused a small earthquake at the end of last year when CEO Tavares was suddenly ousted. It was the last devastating event in a very incidental 2024, resulting in fewer sales, loss of market share, and dwindling profits.

There is no successor for Tavares yet, so board president and Agnelli heir John Elkann is currently running the business. His more important aids on the French side of the group were present in Brussels last week, and they confirmed that 2025 will be a better year again despite the huge challenges. Our first interviewee is Jean-Philippe Imparato, COO of Stellantis Enlarged Europe.

You dropped quite a bomb at the end of last year, announcing the immediate departure of CEO Carlos Tavares while its pension time was foreseen at the beginning of 2026.

“The departure of Carlos is a personal but shared decision that respects the person, the company, and all stakeholders. A decision like that has to be implemented immediately, but it doesn’t change our general strategy. By the way, I’m not a candidate to succeed Carlos. I’m 58, and I’m happy with what I’m doing now; no splitting hairs on strategic decisions for me.”

Could you resume your task?

As the COO for Enlarged Europe, I’m responsible for improving our positioning toward clients, distributors, and various authorities. That also includes commercial vehicles. The situation is, for sure, not evident, but I can assure you that we will meet all targets, also when this means we have to go from 12 to 21% of EV sales this year. Our dealers have to help us here and those who do also get a reward: everyone who sells an EV will earn twice as much as by selling an ICE car.”

You already have an agreement with Tesla to pool your emission results to avoid EU emission fines…

“The deal with Tesla is there to soot and reassure our people. What we will have to pay them is still to be seen. In the United Kingdom, for example, we’re already complying without anyone’s help. We should be able to do that elsewhere, too.”

“I have a proposition for the EU: the CAFE consumption limits should be combined for cars and LCVs, as the latter is even more challenging to achieve. French authorities, I’m asking to subsidize the second-hand EV market; otherwise, we’re going straight into the wall. Leasing contracts should be extended, even doubled (yes, eight instead of four years). That would solve the problem of the residual value.”

Citroën: Simple, comfortable, sustainable,…

Almost all brands inside the Stellantis Group are searching their way. One important thing, then, is to stay out of the territory that a sister brand has already claimed while staying as faithful to your roots as is still possible.

At Citroën, CEO Thierry Koskas confirms that Citroën is looking for a new identity. “We want to be popular, simple, comfortable, sustainable, and not without a certain dash. Simplicity will be our strength. Citroën must be easy and safe to use. We say no to the race for the most screens.”

But comfort is for sure one of the key factors?

“That’s for sure. We want to offer comfort with a capital C in all our models, not just the most expensive ones. That’s why the special comfort dampers and the comfort biased seats will be there on all our models and are reserved for us inside the whole group. They remain typical Citroën elements.”

Thierry Koskas: “Our comfort dampers and seats remain a Citroën priviliege within Stellantis.” /Stellantis

Were you surprised about the success of the Ami four-wheeler?

“Until now, we’ve registered more than 65,000 orders, which is indeed a somewhat unexpected success. The little car is particularly loved among students and is highly appreciated by big companies with vast premises for internal communication and transportation.”

“In the future, we will focus more on B2B, that’s why we offer a cargo kit that can replace the front passenger seat. The Ami can also function as a last-mile delivery vehicle.”

Peugeot: Upper mainstream

Linda Jackson, the former boss of Citroën, has now moved to lead Peugeot (since 2021). She’s aware that a band like Peugeot has to constantly redefine its goals while remaining faithful to the brand’s long-time values.

“Our identity and positioning is situated in what we call the ‘upper mainstream’ end of the market. Peugeot wants to give something back for the money spent.”

“We surely aren’t the cheapest, but we deliver when it comes to design, emotion, driving pleasure, and build quality. An added value is the fact that we already have a full EV for each model in our portfolio.”

Peugeot also suffered last year, like almost all brands inside Stellantis. What lessons can be drawn from this?

Of course, we are fully occupied with adjusting things and learning from what the market and customers tell us. In many countries, we are already strong in the B2B sector, especially when LCVs are concerned, but we also want to convince the individual buyer to go electric.”

“With this in mind, we offer a total package with an 8-year warranty on the battery, an 8-year maintenance scheme, a free wall box, and a free charging pass. We believe in the electric future.

Linda Jackson: “Peugeot wants to be upper mainstream, better than average, you could say.” /Stellantis

 

 

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