Q: How crucial is it for the C3 Aircross SUV to succeed in the Indian market?
We have no doubt that it will succeed. We’ve got a lot of firsts in the segment here. It is the first vehicle with a standard turbo engine, the first vehicle with a roof-mounted, tropicalised AC and the like.
Q: Building brand acceptance is a challenging task in a market like India. How do you do this?
We’ve made a very seamless, easy purchase experience for consumers as we grow our dealer network. The purchase experience is fully digitised. Customers can configure the vehicle in a really immersive 3D configurator. They can accessorise the vehicle, get price quotes, and arrange insurance. If you have a trade-in, there’s a trade-in facilitator. You can basically do everything without actually visiting a dealer.
We’ve learned from the C3 hatchback that about two-thirds of our customers are first-time (car) buyers, which is actually amazing because we are a new brand.
Q: What is the contribution of the Asia-Pacific region to Stellantis’ overall annual sales?
Our region makes up about 20% of the new car market across the world. We’re about 2% of Stellantis’ sales in the region. So, we have a huge upside not only here in India, but across the region.
Here in India we have done a lot of localisation. We plan to do that throughout this region.
Q: Beyond sales, you have the component and powertrain manufacturing operations, and also your technical centres, including the software technology development centre. How do they fit into the scheme of things of Stellantis, which is aiming to be a ‘sustainable mobility tech company’?
Shortly after we became Stellantis in January of 2021, we released our 2030 plan very transparently, and we committed to spending EUR 30 billion in R&D in software, technology, and connectivity. It’s not just about CAFE compliance or CO2 compliance market by market. But we feel that in Stellantis it is also our obligation to the planet.
It really starts with our investment, and you can see it with our C-cubed platform. But after this, we’ve got four dedicated platforms for Stellantis: STLA Small, STLA Mid, STLA Large, and STLA Frame, to be shared across the brands. They’re powertrain-agnostic. So whether you’ve got a BEV or a plug-in hybrid or a petrol engine, they’re powertrain agnostic. So we’ve got a lot of flexibility in the models based on them, which will also be introduced in India.
Then there’s STLA AutoDrive, which is really key here in integrating AI into the experience, into our ADAS technologies, which are becoming more and more sought-after in the markets.
Q: Some of the models on these platforms would head to India too?
Absolutely. As we get ramped up with our common platforms across Stellantis, we plan to release vehicles on these platforms in India.
And it’s not just the platforms or powertrains, nor the battery architectures. There’s a technology that goes behind it. A lot of this technology is being developed right here in India by some of the finest IT talents in India. We’ve got some things driving the vehicle like STLA Smart Cockpit, which is the immersive experience for the driver and passengers in the car. There’s STLA Brain, which is what drives the car, the brains inside the car.
Basically the cars are evolving. It is not just a car anymore. And then there’s STLA Auto Drive, which is the key here in integrating AI into the experience, into our ADAS technologies, which are becoming more and more wanted in the markets.
Q: Is not India the global tech development centre, especially for AI and ADAS, for Stellantis?
Yes, it totally is. We’re targeting about EUR 3 billion of additional revenue from connected vehicles just in services, value-added services that the customers value enough to pay for. We’re transforming from a legacy car maker into a sustainable mobility tech company. We’re working towards scaling up the engineering centres here.
Q: Stellantis started operations at the Bangalore software development centre last month, right?
Yes, and we also have an IT tech centre in Hyderabad, and we have two R&D centres, in Chennai and in Pune. They’re ramping up. Right now, we have about 3500 employees here in India. There’s a multiplier effect when you talk about our suppliers. And we’re not just working on technology for India or the India and Asia Pacific region.
We’re doing validation testing, for example, on products across the world, even products that are only sold in the United States.
Q: Stellantis has the Jeep and Citroën brands in India. Do you see the possibility of adding one or two more brands?
Yeah. It’s always part of the conversation, right? It’s always that you know, ‘what about bringing Fiat back?’ ‘What about Alfa Romeo?’ So it’s always something that we’re concurrently looking at in terms of brands, but I’ll tell you right now, Jeep and Citroen are brands here. We’re looking to grow in these brands. We’re looking to make these brands stronger in the market.
Q: So, no leaving India for any of the brands?
No way. We’ve got so much invested, and so much in the future to invest too. We’ve got quite a footprint here and we’re here to stay. I mean, you’re stuck with us.
Q: Any further investments on the horizon for Stellantis in India?
We will continue to invest in product and product improvements across our lineup here. We talked about the global investment of EUR 30 billion by 2025. So, expansion of our lineups, continuing to improve the products that we have in our lineups. We can’t sit still, especially here in India.
