Stellantis is studying the possible production and sale in Brazil of a hybrid vehicle, powered by electricity and ethanol, until 2025 and plans to launch a new group brand in the country this year, said the company’s president for South America, Antonio Philosa, this Friday (4).
The executive said that the company intends to launch 16 new vehicle models and seven more electric and hybrid vehicles in the region by 2025, to boost the French brands Peugeot and Citroen without losing sight of the market leadership obtained with Fiat and Jeep.
“We’re working on that… we still don’t have a defined timetable for the arrival on the market (of the hybrid ethanol model in Brazil), but it might not be that far away. By 2025, if everything goes well, we could start propose this type of technology”, said Filosa when asked about a possible launch in 2026.
“Ethanol is very relevant in Brazil and less so in other Latin American countries, but it is starting to gain relevance in other countries, such as India”, said the executive, stressing that the development of the ethanol hybrid would first take place by focusing on the Brazilian market. .
Filosa said that Stellantis is preparing to launch a new brand for the region – the group currently works with seven vehicle brands in South America – but he did not confirm whether it would be Alfa Romeo, of luxury models.
“You will know this year yet. It starts with “A”, but it is not Alfa Romeo”, joked the executive. In Stellantis’ portfolio of brands, the other brand that has the letter “A” as the initial is the Italian Abarth, which prepares vehicles for high performance.
According to him, in 2021, Stellantis had an adjusted operating profit (Ebitda) of 882 million euros (R$ 4.9 billion) in South America, after a break even (breakeven point) in 2020. 10.7 billion euros (R$ 59.3 billion), out of a total turnover in the world of 152 billion (R$ 842 billion).
The group ended February with a market share in Brazil of 39.9%, equivalent to a sale of 80,675 vehicles and a gain of 5.4 percentage points over 2021. The country is not the biggest market for Stellantis, but it is the place where the company has the biggest market share in the world.
Filosa said that he remains “optimistic” about the Brazilian market, expecting growth for 2022, but preferred not to set a number, given the uncertainties surrounding the crisis in the supply of components for vehicle production, possible new waves of Covid-19 and, more recently, the war in Ukraine.
In December, the Executive estimated that sales of light vehicles in the country should rise 10% this year. The automakers association, Anfavea, estimated in January an increase of around 8%.
Due to the war, which according to Filosa tends to inflate the already high prices of commodities, and the uncertainties about the supply chain, the 25% reduction in the IPI (Tax on Industrialized Products) announced by the federal government last week should serve more to hold off the rise in vehicle prices this year.
In January, for example, steel supply contracts for the automotive sector had their prices readjusted by 60% by local steelmakers.
“The reduction [do IPI] arrived at a very good time”, he said. “It will help to recover sales volumes in the medium to long term…But in the short term it is more likely to help offset what would be a higher price increase (of )”, said the executive.
Asked if the IPI reduction could boost sales, he said that currently “sales depend on production and production depends on value chains (of auto parts) that are not yet regular”, said Filosa. “Right now, there’s no shortage of customers.”
In the first two months, sales of new vehicles in Brazil plummeted 24.4% compared to the same period in 2021, pressured by a fall of 22.7% in February, according to data from the dealership association, Fenabrave.
On the behavior of vehicle sales in other South American markets in 2022, Filosa said he expects Argentina to be “more or less stable” and that Chile and other countries should “grow a little more” than Brazil.
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