During a select media gathering in Delhi, Ashwani Muppasani, Stellantis India and Asia-Pacific COO suggested that its India dealers will better-leverage group synergies by merging operations on the sales front. With a relatively limited product range for both its brands in India – Jeep and Citroen – the company deems it a better option for its existing dealers to display each others’ vehicles alongside. Not only will this give customers a wider range of products to choose from during their visits to Stellantis dealerships, but help dealers garner more sales. Currently. the Jeep brand in India has a four-SUV line-up that includes the Compass, Meridian, Wrangler and Grand Cherokee. Citroen currently has three-strong product line up – C3, eC3, C3 Aircross and C5 Aircross.
Jeep India currently has 70 dealerships in India, and a four-strong product lineup.
“We are here to stay,” he assured right at the start as he went on to elaborate on some of the measures they plan to take in the short and long term to make both its brands garner a bigger pie of the market.
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Muppasani, who was appointed to the role late last year, is looking to leverage the group’s strength in India, as he feels the market will grow further this year and it is important for Stellantis to be ready in time to make the most of it. Network expansion has been a challenge for the group with both its main brands in India and it is trying to undo the tangles with a leaner and straighter approach to “benefit” dealer partners who are not under undue stress to recover any big investment.
The concept is not new to Stellantis. The brand that was born out of the merger of FCA and PSA (Peugeot-Citroen) currently has a 15-brand line-up including Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Abarth, among others. Of this, Maserati, in India, is a standalone operation. Stellantis also owns Fiat and there are rumours that it may bring the Italian brand back into India.
Citroen’s dealer network in India will grow as its lineup expands over the next 12 months.
Meanwhile, company sources have confirmed that while the intent of going multi-brand is strong, Stellantis isn’t enforcing it compulsorily and keeping it open to dealers to consider. The COO also said the intent is not to increase investment for the dealers. “We don’t really need them to create massive dealerships,” he said. The idea is to make incremental changes so that the dealer can put up an additional brand with minimal investment.”
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Individually, the Jeep brand currently has around 70 dealerships in India, while Citroen is at 60. The latter’s number is likely to cross its SUV stablemate’s, as more models from the French marque are expected to hit showrooms in the next one year starting with a third model based on the same platform as the C3 and C3 Aircross. The coupe-SUV, codenamed CC22, will be launched later this year, and will compete with the upcoming Tata Curvv.
