Stellantis has plans to grow sales of Peugeot and Citroën vehicles in Brazil, a market in which brands have struggled for years to expand their share, after the group formed last year ended 2021 in the lead in sales in South America.
Stellantis was formed by the merger of FCA and PSA and the resulting group inherited the industrial complex in Porto Real (RJ), which manufactures Peugeot and Citroën models, as well as engines. The factory has a capacity for 150,000 vehicles per year, but the two brands ended 2021 with added sales of 52,900 vehicles, according to data from the Fenabrave dealership association.
“The factory in Porto Real (RJ) is underutilized, but we are going to install one of Stellantis’ main launches, the Citroën C3, and we believe that it will be able to quickly saturate the factory”, said the president of Stellantis for South America, Antonio Filosa, this Friday, to journalists. The executive did not give details about investments in view of the proximity of the group’s earnings release.
In 2021, while Fiat, one of Stellantis’ main brands, managed to increase its share in Brazil to almost 22% in the leadership of the Brazilian market, the shares of Peugeot and Citroën in the country were around 1.5% each.
“The Porto Real plant will have a much more than expressive growth. We have done well so far with the launches of Betim (MG – Fiat) and Goiana (PE – Jeep) and if we repeat the same recipe for the launches of Citroën in Porto Real too, I believe we will have good news”, said Filosa when asked about the future of the industrial complex in Rio de Janeiro.
In December, Filosa had estimated that the Brazilian market for light vehicles “had no reason” not to have sales of at least 2.4 million to 2.45 million units. But this Friday, the executive commented that given the impacts of the Covid-19 omicron variant, it is necessary to reevaluate the numbers.
Earlier, the automakers association, Anfavea, estimated that light vehicle sales in the country will grow 8.4% this year to 2.14 million units.
“We hope that this new wave will be fast, but the numbers start to worry”, said the Executive.
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