Tag Archives: Stellantis

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Stellantis Shows Off the Next Leap in Automated Driving at Hi-Drive Brussels

If you want a glimpse at the road ahead—one where your car reads the world as fluently as you do—Stellantis just offered a clear window into that future. At the Hi-Drive Final Event in Brussels, the global automaker laid out its most advanced automated-driving tech yet, and it’s aimed squarely at tackling the messy, unpredictable, very real world the rest of us drive in every day.

Hi-Drive, Europe’s flagship automation program, is built around one mission: move automated driving beyond the carefully manicured test route and into the gritty, chaotic mix of urban streets, highways, and everything in between. The project’s researchers aren’t just building smarter cars—they’re trying to prove those cars can behave reliably, safely, and intelligently in the wild.

“Hi-Drive is a great example of open innovation,” said Anne Laliron, Stellantis’s SVP of Technology Research. She emphasized that collaboration with Europe’s leading tech and research players is helping the company accelerate automated driving from lab theory to practical mobility. And at Brussels, Stellantis backed that up with metal—and a whole lot of sensors.

Two Test Cars, Two Approaches to the Future

Stellantis brought two “Living Lab” cars to demonstrate how its next-gen systems are taking shape.

Peugeot e-2008 Prototype
Sitting under a rooftop sensor stack that looks ready to map Mars, the e-2008 bristles with hardware: eight lidars, nine cameras, four radars, plus both short-range and cellular V2X communications. This isn’t gadget overload—it’s how the car builds a 360-degree view of its world. The setup is designed for dense urban environments, where automated systems must identify everything from cyclists weaving between lanes to sudden pedestrian crossings.

Maserati Levante (MY2018) Prototype
The Levante, on the other hand, focused on high-definition mapping and V2X communication. Using digital-signal messaging from infrastructure and other vehicles, it can interpret hazard alerts, react to dynamic road signage, and generally stay far more aware than any system relying on onboard sensors alone. The goal: driving that’s safer because the car knows more than what’s visible through the windshield.

Why Connectivity Is the Real Secret Sauce

If automated driving has a backbone, Stellantis believes it’s advanced connectivity. Short-range communication, 5G cellular networks, and high-speed data exchange will allow future automated vehicles—not just Stellantis’s—to feed each other traffic info, road conditions, and safety alerts.

In other words: your next car won’t just see the world. It’ll talk about it.

What Stellantis Is Doing Right Now

While Level 4 driverless vehicles are still in development, Stellantis is focusing on practical, usable tech today. That includes real-time traffic updates, driver-assist safety systems, and Level 2+ hands-free highway features—tools meant to ease the mental load rather than take over entirely.

But the company clearly has no intention of stopping there. It has two major parallel collaborations pushing toward scalable robotaxi-level autonomy:

  • NVIDIA, Uber, and Foxconn
  • Pony.ai

Both programs will run on Stellantis’s new AV-Ready Platform™, the company’s flexible architecture built to underpin a wide range of autonomous passenger and commercial vehicles.

The Big Picture

Stellantis isn’t just chasing a buzzword future of “smart mobility.” The company is investing heavily in automated driving as a long-term strategy—one that sees future cities where vehicles are cleaner, safer, more aware, and increasingly driverless.

If the tech shown in Brussels is any indication, Stellantis is betting that the next generation of mobility won’t just assist the driver… it may replace the driver altogether.

Source: Stellantis

News

Stellantis Names Veteran Engineer Olivier Jansonnie as New Motorsport Chief, Ushering In a New Era of Competition

Stellantis is shaking up its racing hierarchy—and betting big on a proven engineering heavyweight. Beginning January 31, 2026, Olivier Jansonnie will take the helm of Stellantis Motorsport, succeeding longtime motorsport architect Jean-Marc Finot. For a group whose portfolio spans everything from DS Formula E titles to Peugeot’s renewed Le Mans ambitions, this leadership change isn’t just administrative—it’s strategic.

A Quiet, Calculated Power Move

If the name Olivier Jansonnie rings a bell, it’s because he’s been behind some of the most technically demanding programs in modern racing. A graduate of Centrale-Supélec, Jansonnie arrives with more than 25 years of cross-disciplinary motorsport experience—LMP1, Hypercar, WRC, WRX, Cross-Country, DTM—and the résumé reads like a highlight reel of the last two decades of factory-backed motorsport evolution.

Jansonnie cut his teeth at Peugeot Sport in 1998 before jumping to Mitsubishi in 2003 to lead development of the Lancer WRC—an era when rallying still had a raw, developmental fierceness. As a freelance engineer, he contributed to major projects for Peugeot, including the brand’s 2009 Le Mans victory, one of the last great petrol-era triumphs before hybridization took over the grid.

Then came a pivotal shift: in 2012, BMW tapped him as head of vehicle development for its motorsport division. There, he oversaw aerodynamics, design, and quality engineering—a trifecta of responsibilities that cemented his reputation as one of the most technically versatile minds in the paddock.

In 2016, Jansonnie returned to Peugeot, eventually becoming Technical Director. Dakar challengers, WRX platforms, EV prototypes—if it wore a lion badge and raced, he likely touched it. Since 2020, he’s served as team principal of the Peugeot TotalEnergies endurance program, helping steer Stellantis back into the top tier of global sports car racing.

Now he’ll oversee the entire Stellantis motorsport portfolio in Europe, reporting directly to Emanuele Cappellano, Head of Enlarged Europe and Stellantis Pro One.

A Leader Stepping Aside After Four Decades

The man Jansonnie replaces, Jean-Marc Finot, is no mere placeholder. His fingerprints are all over Stellantis performance culture—from engineering the iconic 205 GTI in the 1980s to greenlighting modern high-performance platforms across Peugeot, DS, Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Opel, Lancia, and Maserati.

During Finot’s tenure:

  • DS won two Formula E manufacturer and driver titles
  • Peugeot re-entered endurance racing, building the radical 9X8
  • Citroën, Opel, Lancia, and Maserati motorsport programs were revived
  • Customer racing expanded across the group

Finot retires January 31, 2026, marking the end of a career that spans nearly 40 years and some of the most beloved performance vehicles to ever wear French badges.

What Stellantis Says

Cappellano called Jansonnie’s appointment “critical in supporting each brand involved in motorsport,” praising his depth of knowledge while thanking Finot for building a “strong Stellantis Motorsport team, achieving many victories, two world titles, and enabling the development of iconic high-performance vehicles.”

Jansonnie himself struck a forward-looking tone, emphasizing both heritage and innovation:
“Motorsport has always been a cornerstone of the automotive industry… As we enter a new era of global championships, my mission is clear: to keep our brands at the forefront of innovation and performance… Backed by passionate and talented teams, I am ready to take on this challenge.”

What It Means for the Future

Stellantis has quietly become one of the most motorsport-diverse conglomerates in the world. Under one roof sit Peugeot’s Hypercar, DS’s Formula E legacy, Citroën’s rally pedigree, Abarth’s grassroots scene, and Maserati’s newfound racing ambitions.

Jansonnie inherits a motorsport empire at a crossroads—balancing electric championships, endurance hybrids, and customer racing while each brand searches for its post-2030 identity.

If Stellantis wants its racing efforts to turn into showroom excitement—real halo cars that matter to enthusiasts—Jansonnie is a logical, focused choice. Technical, unflashy, respected by engineers and drivers alike, he’s more racer than executive.

And that may be exactly what Stellantis needs.

Source: Stellantis

News

Stellantis Posts Strong Q3, Bets Big on a $13 Billion U.S. Comeback Plan

Stellantis is putting rubber to the road again. The multinational megagroup—home to Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Peugeot, Citroën, Fiat, and more—just posted a strong third quarter for 2025, showing that its sprawling lineup and renewed focus on North America are paying off.

The company reported €37.2 billion in net revenues, up 13 percent year-over-year, fueled by booming shipments and a long-overdue rebound in U.S. sales. That’s 1.3 million vehicles delivered globally, a 152,000-unit bump over 2024. The real star? North America, where production jumped 35 percent thanks to normalized inventory levels after last year’s dealer stock reduction squeeze.

The Product Offensive

Behind those numbers lies a wave of new metal. Stellantis has already rolled out six of ten new models planned for 2025, with ordering open for a slate of high-profile launches: the SIXPACK-powered Dodge Charger Scat Pack (2-door), the four-door Charger Daytona, the reborn Jeep Cherokee, the Fiat 500 Hybrid, and the sleek DS No.8.

Sales across the company’s American brands rose 6 percent versus Q3 2024, pushing Stellantis to an 8.7 percent market share in September—its best in 15 months. The return of the HEMI® V-8–powered Ram 1500 didn’t hurt, either, marking a nostalgic counterpoint to the company’s steady march toward electrification.

Europe, Middle East, and Beyond

Across the Atlantic, Stellantis found mixed fortunes. The European portfolio—bolstered by fresh B-segment contenders like the Citroën C3, Opel Frontera, and Fiat Grande Panda—delivered modest growth, with revenues up 4 percent. But its EU30 market share dipped to 15.4 percent, dragged down by slowdowns in France and Italy and softer performance in light commercial vehicles.

Elsewhere, the Middle East and Africa helped balance the scales with healthy gains, even as South America cooled.

A $13 Billion Bet on America

If Stellantis’ third-quarter performance was the appetizer, the main course is a $13 billion U.S. investment plan announced in mid-October—the largest in the company’s century-long American history. Over the next four years, that cash will fund five all-new models and create 5,000 jobs, signaling that CEO Antonio Filosa is betting big on a long-term U.S. resurgence.

The plan includes reopening the Belvidere, Illinois, plant to build two new Jeep models (Cherokee and Compass), launching a new midsize Ram truck in Toledo, Ohio, and giving Warren, Michigan, a new large SUV with both range-extended EV and internal combustion variants. Meanwhile, Detroit will host the next-generation Dodge Durango, and Kokomo, Indiana, will take on the all-new GMET4 EVO engine.

Stellantis says the expansion will boost its U.S. production capacity by 50 percent and come alongside 19 product refreshes through 2029.

The Road Ahead

Despite the optimism, Stellantis remains cautious. The company reaffirmed its H2 2025 guidance, expecting stronger revenues and cash flow but warning of one-off charges tied to warranty estimate revisions and strategic realignments. In plain English: a little short-term turbulence before a smoother ride.

CEO Antonio Filosa put it simply:

“We’re implementing important strategic changes to give customers greater freedom of choice. Our Q3 results show encouraging progress, and we’re building on these gains with decisive actions to support long-term, profitable growth.”

From a brand that’s juggling plug-in hybrids, hydrogen vans, HEMI muscle, and small European city cars, that “freedom of choice” mantra might be more literal than ever. Stellantis isn’t just surviving the EV transition—it’s revving up for it.

Source: Stellantis