Stellantis inks deal aimed at vehicle production in South Africa

In a surprise development, Stellantis South Africa has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Trade and Industry with the intention of building a new vehicle manufacturing plant in the country tipped for completion in 2025.

Surprise

Part of the conglomerate, established in 2021 following the merger of the PSA Group and Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), Dare Forward 2030 campaign, little of the actual deal and its worth was revealed, apart from the facility being located in a special economic zone of which the exact location wasn’t disclosed either.

“This is an important step in our Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan towards strengthening our leadership in the Middle East and Africa region and becoming a major player in South Africa,” Stellantis Middle East and Africa Chief Operating Officer, Samir Cherfan, said in a joint statement.

“The manufacturing site in South Africa will be a new building block in our industrialisation strategy that includes the plan to sell one million vehicles in the region by 2030 with 70% regional production autonomy and will bring us closer to our customers’ needs in the region”.

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Trade and Industry Minister Ebrahim Patel, who took part in the official signing earlier today, said: “Stellantis is a large global automaker, with a range of well-known brands. 

“South Africa is a great investment destination with significant car-making capacity. We look forward to working closely with Stellantis to enable the company to set up a plant that will expand our manufacturing base and create local jobs.”

Speculation begins

Of more interest is the brand of car and model that could be made on local soil. Presently, 14 marques make up Stellantis; Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Citroën, Dodge, DS Automobiles, Fiat, Fiat Professional, Jeep, Lancia, Maserati, Opel/Vauxhall, Peugeot and Ram.

Past iterations of Stellantis, under the auspices of different parent companies, have had assembly presence in South Africa, mostly famously Alfa Romeo in the 70s and 80s, Citroën around the same time and most recently, Opel, as part of the erstwhile Delta Motor Corporation.

The most intriguing brands though are Lancia and Ram, the former having been mentioned for South Africa as it looks set to return to right-hand-drive markets next year for the first time since 1994, while the latter is soon to reveal two different bakkies for the South American and global markets beneath the full-size 1500 that has proved a runaway success in Australia where right-hand-drive conversions takes place by way of Walkinshaw Automotive.

The other side of the coin involves Fiat and Peugeot, the Italian marque having assembled the Uno at Nissan’s Rosslyn Plant in the 1990s, and the latter that produced the iconic 404 and 405 in Pretoria throughout the 60s, 70s and early 80s before withdrawing in response to the political situation at the time.

More details soon

A clearer picture regarding the investment and the brand that stands to take preference heading into 2025, is expected to be detailed by Stellantis South Africa soon.

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