There is considerable moving and shaking going on at Stellantis with the multi-brand corporation kicking into high gear with two major projects as well as being responsible for the upcoming launches of new product from five of the eight brands it represents.
The two moves are highly significant and the first will see the dealer group consolidated into a single, cohesive entity under the Stellantis brand rather than a series of individual dealerships bearing the Opel, Peugeot, Citroen, Jeep, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, DS or Abarth branding.
The second is the factory plans announced last year will start shortly with the greenfield site in Coega, Eastern Cape seeing the first sod turned shortly – with actual production of the Peugeot LandTrek bakkie, including the new single cab version, scheduled to start early in 2026, ramping up quickly to an annual production of 50 000 units.
Mike Whitfield
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Stellantis CEO, Mike Whitfield, is understandably upbeat about the two projects saying, “By consolidating the dealer network we will be able to provide a better and more comprehensive service to all our customers across the different brand identities.
“To further improve this we have also brought the parts operation together under a single roof and currently have more than R450-million in parts stock available and we are very proud to be running at 95% parts first-time pick from the dealer to the customer.
“The factory will be a full production plant, not simply a SKD assembly operation and the only element we will outsource is the metal stamping as there is already a facility close to the site.”
On a global level, Stellantis – the third largest automaker in the world – is custodian of14 brand names, of which eight are active in South Africa (if Abarth is regarded as a separate brand from Fiat) with ninth in the form of Maserati not handled locally by Stellantis.
Opel Corsa
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New product on the way this year and early into next year will lkick of with the updated Opel Corsa that gets a number of design tweaks. Then there is the single cab Peugeot Landtrek, an all-electric Fiat 500 accomapnied by the electric versio of the Abarth and a new Jeep Wrangler with a new 2,0-litre engine that produces the same power and more torque than the current powerplant.
BEV Abarth
Full details will be provided closer to each launch date but suffice it to say Stellantis is on a march to capture a sizeable chunk of the local market.
Colin Windell
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