The manufacturer ends its joint venture with GAC and will focus on importing electrified models
Stellantis has halted production in China of Jeep, one of the most lucrative brands in the Asian market, where large American cars are especially popular. This marks the end of 12 years of cooperation with the Chinese group GAC, with which they had established the joint venture for local production.
Last Monday, Stellantis stated that no progress had been made in its plans to acquire a majority stake in the company. Months ago, the CEO,
Charles Tavaresannounced that its new strategy would focus on importing vehicles into the country.
Improving the performance of the consortium’s 14 brands in China has been one of the executive’s priorities since he took charge after the merger of the PSA and FCA groups in 2021. While for the German brands, the market is one of has become their main focus, the French and Italian companies have not yet really gained traction.
For this reason, Tavares announced last March an “asset-light” plan in which production would not be one of the priorities, but imports would prevail. In the case of Jeep, the brand has already reached out to supply electric models to a select network of dealers.
In China, the joint venture with GAC produced the Cherokee, Renegade, Compass and Grand Commander for the domestic market. The announcement to end this partnership came at the same time as its other partner in the country, Dongfeng Motor, stated it was considering its 3.16% stake in Stellantis, a holdover from its joint venture with PSA, which produces Peugeot and Citroen. , to get rid of. models.
According to Tavares, “There’s no problem with having a very profitable business that imports fully built vehicles. We’re trying to create a business model that reflects what we’ve learned the hard way.”
For the company, the end of the joint venture with GAC means a charge of approximately EUR 297 million in the first half of the year. These will be unveiled on July 28 and closed last year with a record profit of 13,400 million. The group’s shares reacted positively to the news, with a price increase of 3%, but they are down 29% so far this year.
Source: La Verdad
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