Stellantis responds to Chinese invasion with Citroën ë-C3 below €25,000

Stellantis chief executive Carlos Tavares addressed the challenges posed by electrification and the Chinese “invasion” yesterday (26 July), during the presentation of the group’s financial results for the first half of this year.

Citroën ë-C3 priced below €25,000

Among its key “weapons” will be the new Citroën ë-C3, which we will see at the beginning of next year - could it be unveiled later this year? It will become Stellantis’s first fully electric model on the European market with a price below €25,000.

To reach that price point, it is set to introduce innovative solutions that will have a direct effect on keeping production costs under control.

In Carlos Tavares’s words, it is also “the first step in our response to what is now being called the ‘Chinese invasion’ of the European market. We will fight it with this type of product, and we have more on the way. They will all be affordable and profitable.”

The new Citroën ë-C3 will be one of the 47 fully electric models that Stellantis will have on sale by the end of 2024, more than twice the 23 models already on the market. The new products do not end there, as a new platform is also on the way.

New platform for the C-segment

While Stellantis currently leads Europe’s electric A-segment (city cars) with the Fiat 500 and B-segment (superminis) with the Peugeot e-208, it must now take the lead in the far more competitive C-segment (compact family cars).

The new STLA Medium Platform is intended to achieve that. It promises to underpin models offering a maximum range of more than 700 km - alongside batteries with capacities of up to 98 kWh - while delivering combined-cycle consumption below 14 kWh/100 km.

“There is nothing we do in engineering at Stellantis right now that does not aim to be best in class.”

• Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis

The approach is to develop attractive cars that create an emotional response, while working closely and simultaneously with suppliers to secure the best balance between quality and price. “Because we want to monetise the value we create,” Carlos Tavares adds.

Stellantis figures for the first half

The first half of 2023 went very well for Stellantis, which reported record figures compared with those achieved in the same period last year. One of the most significant was €98.4 billion in net revenue, representing growth of 12% compared with 2022.

Adjusted operating profit reached €14.1 billion. Net profit, meanwhile, amounted to €10.9 billion, up 37% on the first half of 2022.

The sharpest increase, however, related to industrial free cash flows, which rose by 63% compared with 2022. Put another way - or in figures - the €8.7 million recorded in the first half of this year was €3.3 billion higher than the 2022 figure.

As Carlos Tavares noted, the Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan is operating at full speed. Evidence of this can be found in the record results Stellantis has just presented, which will continue to grow through to the end of the year.