Ford and GM Launch Counterattack
"No Tesla One-Man Show"
[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] Stellantis, the world's 4th largest and the US's 3rd largest automaker, announced plans to invest 30 billion euros (approximately 40.8234 trillion KRW) in the electric vehicle sector by 2025.
Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis, revealed this investment plan during the 'EV Day 2021' held via video conference on the 8th (local time).
Stellantis plans to establish electric vehicle lineups for all 14 of its brands, including Fiat, Chrysler, Peugeot, Citro?n, Jeep, Dodge, Maserati, Ram, and Opel. The plan covers electric passenger cars, SUVs, and commercial vehicles across mass-market to ultra-luxury brands.
Through this, Stellantis aims to have over 70% of its sales in Europe and more than 40% of its sales in the US composed of eco-friendly vehicles such as electric or hybrid cars by 2030. Currently, the share of eco-friendly vehicle sales for Stellantis stands at 14% in Europe and 4% in the US.
Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis, seemingly targeting Tesla, predicted that "the electric vehicle market competition will not be a one-man show."
Earlier this year, CEO Tavares declared that from 2025 onwards, all new vehicles would be electric.
Analysts interpret Stellantis's strategy as a strong will to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles, which has lagged behind competitors like Volkswagen and General Motors (GM), aiming not only to catch up but to overturn the market situation.
Stellantis announced plans to launch electric versions of Jeep SUVs, Ram trucks, and Dodge sports cars between 2024 and 2025.
The video released by Stellantis for the Jeep brand previewed features such as driver bio-recognition, vehicle-to-vehicle charging, and vehicle-drone pairing by 2025, with off-road autonomous driving capabilities expected by 2030. Additionally, Stellantis plans to develop four types of platforms for various electric vehicles.
Stellantis hinted at active competition in the electric pickup truck and SUV segments, where General Motors (GM) and Ford have taken the lead, although some evaluations suggest Stellantis is already behind.
While Stellantis's announced timeline is 2025, Ford has already secured 100,000 reservations within two months after unveiling the F-150 pickup truck, and GM is seeing strong reservations for its Hummer pickup trucks and SUVs. Ford and GM plan to start selling these vehicles next year.
Samsung SDI Expected to Supply Batteries
To ensure stable mass production of electric vehicles, Stellantis plans to establish collaborative relationships with five battery plants located in Europe and North America.
Following previously announced battery plants in Germany and France, Stellantis also announced that a battery plant will be established in Termoli, Italy. The remaining two plants are expected to be located in the United States.
On this day, a major foreign media outlet cited sources reporting that Samsung SDI is negotiating to supply batteries produced at its battery plant under development in the US to Stellantis.
Stellantis plans to secure a total of over 130 gigawatt-hours (GWh) by 2025 and to double this to over 260 GWh by 2030 for stable supply.
However, Stellantis also set a goal to reduce battery costs by more than 40% by 2024 through in-house development and to further reduce costs by over 20% by 2030.
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