Stellantis has struggled in the United States over the last year. — Bloomberg
Hoofddorp (Netherlands): Multinational automaker Stellantis NV will delay the arrival of its two electric pickup trucks to the first half of 2025 from the end of this year, chief executive officer Carlos Tavares says.
The company is juggling several different product launches, including the all-electric Dodge Charger Daytona muscle car, an electric Jeep sport utility vehicle, the Wagoneer S, and two new trucks: the all-electric Ram REV, and the Ramcharger, a battery-powered pickup with an on-board gas generator to boost range and towing capacity.
“We are just facing a very significant amount of workload, and we want to be very prudent in the way we validate the products, so we take our time,” Tavares said on a call with reporters on Tuesday. “We are managing the peak between the products that we have ahead of us.”
Stellantis has struggled in the United States over the last year. Sales for Ram – one of its main US profit drivers – were down 24% in the first nine months of the year.
It’s also preparing to launch a slew of electric products as EV demand softens and President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to roll back tighter fuel economy rules that spurred the industry to build more electric vehicles (EVs).
Since taking the helm of the combined company in early 2021, Tavares has made catching up on electrification a centerepiece of his strategy.
At the same time, he’s sworn off paying fines or using regulatory credits as a cushion to give the company more flexibility in the bumpy transition to EVs.
But he acknowledged Tuesday that US consumers may not soon be ready to embrace zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) and said he would not be “dogmatic” if Stellantis needs to pay fines or buy regulatory credits from competitors to comply with tougher fuel-economy standards in the near term.
“It depends on if there are enough customers to buy the ZEVs – if there are, we are just fine, we’ll be where we expected to be,” he said.
“Not to say we expect to have a very strong demand, because we see the market is not reacting very fast.”
Tavares touted the automaker’s latest “multi-energy” platform that will underpin fully-electric or hybrid trucks while delivering as much as 1,110km of range, but can also be used for petrol vehicles. — Bloomberg
