Stellantis, which is behind 14 different top automobile brands in the world, including Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep and Maserati, will launch its first EV in India under its Citroen brand next year.
In a chat with the Indian media, Stellantis group CEO Carlos Tavares said the group's first EV under the smart-car program will be engineered in India. It will see a range of cars (in both the compact sub-four metre segment and multi-purpose/sports utility vehicles segment) built on Citroen’s CMP platform with India as the global production base.
"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 that will come next".
Stellantis currently sells Jeep and Citroen brand (ICE) vehicles in India.
Citroen EV to roll out of Chennai plant
The company did not give out specific details on Citroen’s first EV for India. But since it is going to be a sub-4-metre model, it'll be likely to be the EV version of the soon-to-be launched Citroen C3 hatchback.
"The task for EVs in India is twofold: to have clean energy to power them and to make them affordable, and that second part is in our hands," Tavares said.
The cars that will be rolled out of its Chennai plant will have over 90% localisation. But batteries would initially be imported. (For the record, it has plants in Hosur and Pune, too). "We would have liked to have batteries also from India, however, sourcing them locally is not possible as yet. As soon as this becomes a reality though, we will move towards sourcing batteries in India.”
Tavares suggested that the group might want to source batteries not just for cars made in India but for its global supply chain through a local sourcing partner.
He said that the group was investing close to one billion euros in electric vehicles but has not made specific allocations as EVs are a part of the group's smart cars program.
Stellantis compact EV, in the affordable segment, can be a game-changer as a budget EV offering from other competing brands like Maruti and Hyundai would not be ready by next year.
