Antonio Filosa, the new CEO of Stellantis’ off-road brand Jeep, wants to grow the brand in a short time. One of the pillars of these expansion plans may be Turkey and TOFAŞ.
Stellantis’ off-road brand is struggling in Europe and especially in the US, its home market. Antonio Filosa, who led Stellantis’ efforts in South America with great success, was appointed CEO of Jeep late last year to lead the same effort. Filosa aims to double Jeep’s global sales to 2 million by the end of the decade, US sales from 634,000 vehicles to 1 million and European market share to 2 percent. To achieve these plans, production of the Jeep brand is to be increased. One of the pillars of these plans is apparently closely related to Turkey and TOFAŞ.
TOFAS may produce Jeep
Jeep has failed to perform similarly as most markets and automakers are catching up with pre-pandemic volumes. New CEO Antonio Filosa wants to solve this problem with a three-pillar strategy. One of these pillars is to localize production of existing products to more cost-competitive bases. Filosa says that its products are strong but production costs are too high in some markets. According to the CEO, if you want to grow in more competitive markets, you need a lower cost base.
Stellantis’ Jeep already produces on three continents and in six countries. According to Antonio Filosa, thanks to Stellantis, there are already many production facilities where Jeep models can be easily added. Filosa said they are currently examining options in North Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, including Turkey. This would provide greater access to Jeep for customers in these markets.
For those who don’t know, TOFAS acquired the Turkish rights of Stellantis last year. As part of the deal, it was decided that the Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Citroën, DS Automobiles, Jeep, Maserati, Opel and Peugeot brands under the Stellantis umbrella would be distributed by TOFAŞ.
The second pillar of Jeep’s strategy is to offer powertrain flexibility. Jeep has a clear strategy to have 50 percent of its sales in the US and 100 percent in Europe fully electric by 2030, but is considering adding internal combustion engine variants in appropriate markets in the short to medium term. The third pillar is to secure Jeep’s market coverage. For example, the main reason for the company’s decline in the US is the loss of the Cherokee [a mid-size SUV that ends production in February 2023]. The company doesn’t want a repeat of that.
