Stellantis is preparing one of the most radical changes to its electric strategy. The company has decided to abandon the use of the universal STLA architecture in its future line of budget E-Car electric vehicles and develop a separate specialized platform for them. The goal is to reduce the cost of cars to $17,000, or approximately 1.25 million rubles.
By modern market standards, this is an extremely aggressive price tag. For comparison, the most affordable electric vehicles in the US today cost about $30,000, almost twice as much as future Stellantis models.
Production of the new cars is scheduled to start in 2028 at the Pomigliano d'Arco plant in Italy. The project will be based on the idea of a maximally simple urban electric vehicle aimed at European buyers. It is expected that models from several brands of the concern, including Fiat, Opel, and Citroën, will receive the platform.
Stellantis's cooperation with Chinese Leapmotor is of particular interest. The company openly admits that it is studying the experience of Chinese manufacturers who have managed to make affordable electric vehicles a mass product.
If the project is successful, it could become one of the first real examples of an electric vehicle costing around $17,000 from a major global automaker.