Stellantis Insists Future Models Won’t Just Be Lazy Rebadges Despite Shared Bones

Stellantis is an automotive giant with 14 brands under its umbrella, meaning it relies heavily on shared platforms, powertrains, and technology to make the cut. While its future strategy puts greater emphasis on consolidation with extra cost cutting measures, its European chief promises that future models will offer greater differentiation focused on design.

The recently announced $70 billion plan of Stellantis includes more than 60 new model launches and another 50 mid-lifecycle updates. Many of the newcomers will ride on the STLA One platform which is said to be “entirely new” rather than a development of the current STLA Medium – itself an evolution of the EMP2 from the PSA era.

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However, while all Stellantis brands will participate in the new model blitz, only four of them have the upper hand when it comes to R&D expenses. Fiat, Jeep, Peugeot, and Ram have been chosen to absorb 70% of the planned investment, setting the tone for the rest of the pack. So how will all those sibling models be differentiated? The short answer is design.

Emanuele Cappellano, Chief Operating Officer for Enlarged Europe & European Brands at Stellantis, spoke to Autocar about their future strategy. He explained that the investment on new models will be targeted to changing the design, adding that maintaining the signature traits of each brand is crucial, especially in mainstream segments.

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Scott Kruger, who is responsible for the design of Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram, recently made similar comments about the American brands of Stellantis. He said that while their target is to make affordable vehicles, they also need to focus on the core product attributes that make each brand desirable.

Cappellano explained the difference between global and regional brands within the current Stellantis portfolio:

“We really don’t want to be misunderstood when we talk about what is a global brand, what is a regional brand, which is a specialty brand. We are not ranking the brands in terms of relevance. The point is how we can be smart in terms of capital allocation.”

The high-ranking official continued:

“The main difference between a global brand and the regional and specialty brands is just the timing for the first application of investment. So with the STLA One platform for the B- and C-segment, Peugeot is the global brand. That means we are going to invest first in launching a Peugeot-branded model on that new platform, new electric architecture, the STLA Brain software and new technology like steer-by-wire.”

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“In the meantime, we are working on the following launches on the same platform, where most of the effort, in terms of capital expenditure, is on diversifying – really diversifying – the models and line-up, and not just rebadging. So you’ll have the new Peugeot first and after that you’re have a new Vauxhall that is not a rebadged Peugeot, then an Alfa Romeo, a Jeep or whatever.”

In other words, every new launch by Fiat, Jeep, Peugeot, and Ram will be a great indication of what to expect from the rest of the Stellantis brands in terms of specifications and technology. The other brands will follow with their versions of the same recipe, infusing their own styling language and core values rather than being cases of badge engineering.