According to European automotive news reports, Stellantis Group CEO Carlos Tavares recently said that the company does not intend to increase market share and significantly reduce the price of electric car products.
On Friday, Stellantis Group announced the launch of its new STLA Large model platform, a highly flexible native platform for large, pure electric vehicles, Tavares said at the launch: “If you cut prices regardless of the reality of the costs, you’re going to have a bloodbath. Companies are trying to avoid a race to the bottom.”
According to him, automakers that get caught in a “price war” that results in continuous corporate losses may risk being acquired. The Stellantis Group has more room to cut costs and improve operations than it does to engage in a “price war”.
At the meeting, Tavares also said he knew of one company that had drastically reduced its prices, resulting in a significant drop in profits. However, he did not disclose the name of the company.
As previously reported, Stellantis’ upcoming D-Class, E-Class, and other large vehicles will be based on the new STLA Large platform, which features embedded energy sources, high-performance power and charging efficiencies, and excellent off-road road ratings. Products based on this platform will cover a full range of sedans, crossovers and SUVs, and will be launched this year.
The platform is available in 400V and 800V electrical architectures, and powertrain performance can be software-updated through OTA wireless upgrades over the life of the vehicle. Early versions of the powertrain package have the potential to accelerate the vehicle from 0-100 km/h in about 2 seconds, and a fast-charging feature adds 4.5 kilowatt-hours of power per minute to the 800-volt battery pack.
