BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 19. Stellantis, a multinational automotive manufacturing corporation, sees India as a profitable market, and an opportunity for further growth in the country, as challenges in Russian and Chinese markets remain, Trend reports citing Reuters.
India, where Stellantis sells its Jeep and Citroen brands, makes up a fraction of the carmaker's global sales but Tavares said he expects revenues in the South Asian nation to more than double by 2030 and operating profit margins to be in double-digits within the next couple of years.
"Being profitable in India is possible if you do things the India way," Stellantis chief Carlos Tavares said.
This, according to him, includes sourcing parts locally and vertically integrating the supply chain to keep costs low, and engineering cars locally with features Indian consumers want and are willing to pay for.
The focus on India comes at a time when the world's fourth-largest carmaker is facing headwinds in China, where it is reshuffling its strategy amid lagging sales and strong competition, and in Russia, where it has suspended production due to the Ukraine war.
Stellantis has invested over 1 billion euros ($1.05 billion) in its Indian operations since 2015. The carmaker also wants to source cells and batteries from India whenever the supply chain develops, Tavares said, adding that this would be the only way to build affordable (electric vehicles) EVs.
Stellantis has less than 1 percent of India's car market of 3 million units a year but Tavares said he is not chasing volumes in India or globally. "We believe the world is changing and in some cases being too big may be a penalty," he said.