“The experiences of these early stages make me very confident about the future and the extraordinary results that we can achieve together”. With these words, spoken during the shareholders' meeting of stellantis, President John Elkann launched the challenge for the near future of the car manufacturer born from the merger between FCA and the French PSA. The CEO Carlos Tavares also flies high, who announced at the same meeting "an offensive and not a defensive plan, because we have many opportunities and value to express”. Among these opportunities is the major issue of electric mobility, on which the new group will bet heavily and which is also at the heart of the delicate issue of factories and employment in Italy, which could be oriented towards electrification. The top management of Stellantis will meet the trade union organizations on Friday 16 April, but the debate has already emerged in the assembly.
"We are working to ensure that Stellantis has the best organization possible, with capable and talented leaders who know how to bring different points of view and are united by the same openness to change", announced Elkann generically, anticipating among other things that a quarter of the management will be made up of women. On electrification, the president recalled that "the automotive sector is going through an era of profound and increasingly rapid changes, which in the next decade will be even more intense and they will force us to rethink the concept of mobility as we know it. This is precisely the reason behind the decision to create Stellantis, a company that today has the size, technology and ambition not only to respond to the challenges of a new era, but also and above all to shape the future of mobility with innovative and sustainable products and services”. In particular, the manager of the Agnelli family mentioned "the revolutionary project of self-driving cars with Pacifica Waymo and our approach to car sharing with Free2move and Leasys".
Stellantis in particular will accelerate on electric. “The group – continued Elkann – has a cutting-edge electrified offer all over the world with the widest range of full electric vehicles in Europe in segment B, which perfectly expresses our idea of mass electric mobility for the near future”. Among the innovative products, the president mentioned Citroen Ami, Maserati MC20, the three new vans powered by hydrogen fuel cells under the Peugeot, Citroen and Opel brands, as well as initiatives related to electric mobility, recharging infrastructure, the production of batteries (jv Acc) and the partnership signed with Archer “for the development of electrical devices for vertical take-off and landing for urban mobility”. The objective declared in front of the shareholders is to triple the sales of electrified cars in 2021 compared to 2020 (Lev), thus exceeding 400 thousand units, as indicated by the chairman John Elkann, in the letter to Exor's shareholders.
To achieve it, the Italian factories should be involved. Waiting for the meeting with the unions, who declare themselves "ready to discuss", the Minister of Economic Development Giancarlo Giorgetti also spoke on the matter in a hearing in the Chamber, referring to a meeting between Prime Minister Mario Draghi and the top management of the company. “As for Melfi, in recent days the Prime Minister also met Stellantis. I think we have to imagine ourselves, when we invest a lot at national and European level in sustainable mobility, as well as a demand, also an Italian and European supply of sustainable mobility”. "Post-pandemic globalization - he pointed out - will have to satisfy the rules of a regular and fair playing field for all those who want to participate, otherwise we will make great resources available to make the fortune of large industrial systems outside our borders".
In 2021 around 14% of the cars sold by Stellantis in Europe by the group will be electrified, with the goal of reaching 38% in 2025 and 70% in 2030. In 2025, added the CEO of Stellantis Carlos Tavares, 98% of the group's models in Europe will also be available in an electrified version. As for the United States, in 2021 around 4% of the cars sold by Stellantis will be electrified, this will rise to 31% in 2025 and 35% in 2030 and 2025 96% of the group's models offered in the US will have an electrified version.
