FCA to stop B-segment developments due to fusion with PSA

The planned merger of the car companies PSA and FCA under the name Stellantis has apparently already led to a decision about sharing vehicle platforms: According to an article in the Spanish media, FCA is abandoning its developments for B-segment vehicles.

As the Spanish electric mobility news site Foroselectricos reports, in the future, FCA are to use PSA’s CMP platform or the e-CMP for electric cars. This decision should enable FCA to significantly reduce development costs for the next models in this segment. The first FCA models to be produced on the PSA platform will be the successors to the Fiat Punto and Fiat 500XL. Alfa Romeo will use the platform for an electric B-SUV below the tonal range, which, like the 500XL, will have a purely electric version.

Foroselectricos refers to a letter that FCA is said to have sent to its employees and suppliers in Italy and Poland. In this letter, the recipients were asked to stop all activities related to B-segment models. Since the employees in Poland were told the same thing, Foroselectricos concludes that the plant in Tychy will be the first to be converted to the PSA platform.

The Fiat and Alfa Romeo brands will probably be the first to use PSA technology, but it is not impossible that Lancia and Jeep will also use CMP. This will only concern the B-segment and the (e-)CMP, but not the e-VMP recently announced by PSA for larger vehicles.

In addition, the cooperation agreement in the B segment is said to have been agreed independently of the planned merger, which is expected to be completed in early 2021. Should the merger fail, FCA could still purchase CMP technology from PSA. Neither of the groups has confirmed any of this information.

The logic behind the agreement is clear: PSA could thus increase volume and reduce costs. And FCA would gain access to a modular platform. Except for the announced new Fiat 500, the Italo-American group is still having a tough time. While the first Jeep PHEVs will soon be available at dealerships alongside the 500, PSA is offering a wide range of BEV models on the platform, including the Peugeot e-208, e-2008, Opel Corsa-e, soon the Mocha-e, the DS 3 Crossback E-Tense and soon the Citroën ë-C4.

Opel has demonstrated how quickly PPE technology can be integrated with the new Corsa: The French company didn’t take over the German carmaker until mid-2017. Less than two years later, the sixth generation of the small car based on PSA technology was launched on the market, although plans had been made differently beforehand.

With reporting by Sebastian Schaal

forococheselectricos.com (in Spanish)