Stellantis to launch its first EV in India next year, says CEO

CHENNAI: Global automotive group Stellantis will launch its first electric vehicle (EV) in India under the Citroen brand next year and is expecting up to 30% of total sales to come from EVs by 2030, said the company’s global chief executive officer Carlos Tavares.

The group, which was formed by the merger between ItalianAmerican conglomerate Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and French PSA Group, plans to bring EVs in both the compact sub-four metre segment and multi-purpose/sport utility vehicles segment in India.

“We will launch them and the first EV will come next year,” Tavares said in a virtual interaction with media here when asked about the group’s EV plans for India.

“We are going to bring not only compact cars, I would say within the Indian market segmentation less than four meters, but we’ll also bring EVs with people movers for the next products to be launched. We will bring those EV versions in both the less than four-metre cars and to MPV-SUV oriented products,” Tavares said.

The Stellantis CEO expects India to be a profitable market and a bigger growth opportunity than the carmaker previously expected as it faces challenges in countries such as China and Russia. India, where Stellantis sells its Jeep and Citroen brands, makes up a fraction of the carmaker’s global sales. However,

Tavares said he expects revenues in the country to more than double by 2030 and operating profit margins to be in double-digits within the next couple of years.

Western carmakers for years have struggled to make money in India, a market dominated by Asia’s Suzuki Motor and Hyundai Motor with their small, lowcost cars.

“Being profitable in India is possible if you do things the India way,” Tavares said. This, according to him, includes sourcing parts locally and vertically integrating the supply chain to keep costs low, and engineering cars locally with features Indian consumers want and are willing to pay for. The focus on India comes at a time the world’s fourth-largest carmaker is facing headwinds in China.