Because Stellantis accelerates with ethanol
Stellantis for South America focuses on ethanol and plans to launch 43 vehicles of eight brands with investments of 3.14 billion dollars
Even Stellantis, like many other European groups and beyond, will not abandon the production of endothermic engines for 2035, the deadline set by the EU: it will simply delocalize it to other markets. After all, there are not a few countries in which the old engines will continue to circulate. In this case, attention to the environment will be ensured by the production of ethanol hybrids. All of this will take place in South America.
THE PRESENCE OF STELLANTIS IN SOUTH AMERICA IN NUMBERS
Moreover, it is a highly receptive market for the Group led by Carlos Tavares, if one considers that, in the past 12 months, it has achieved 23.12% of registrations on the entire continent, with first place in Brazil, Argentina and Chile.
Overall, Stellantis delivered 843,000 vehicles in South America in 2022, of which 646,700 in Brazil, with a local market share of 32.9%, 116,700 in Argentina (30.7%), 46,700 in Chile (10.9 %) and 33,700 in the other countries of the continent.
In detail, in Brazil the Fiat brand confirmed its leadership position with 430,000 units sold (21.9% share), of which 112,463 Fiat Stradas. The results of the city SUV Mobi (72,760 units) and the compact Argo (64,022 units) were also significant. The Jeep brand delivered a total of 137,444 vehicles in 2022 (20% of the market), with the Compass and Commander models leading the range.
Peugeot scored 41,740 registrations (+41% on 2021, and 2.1% share). Citroen is up 37%, thanks to the launch of the Novo C3, 10,835 units registered. Ram +81% on the previous year and 5,056 deliveries.
In Argentina, the Stellantis group in 2022 delivered 116,000 cars and commercial vehicles, equal to 30.7% of the market. The best-selling was the compact Cronos, first in the standings for 30 consecutive months: it totaled 38,000 units, ahead of another model of the group, the Peugeot 208, second with 25,649 units.
CHEAP FUEL BUT NOT FOR EVERYONE
A leadership that will be maintained by reserving ethanol engines. Alternative fuel is known to motorists: given that it costs less than 1 euro per litre, it is talked about cyclically every time the price of petrol rises again. It is no coincidence that the web is full of sites, tutorials and faqs that explain how to convert your traditional engine and warnings on why it is better not to do so.
Bioethanol is obtained from the fermentation of biomass and vegetable waste. It is already a component present in petrol in different percentages, usually ranging between 5 and 10%, however, there are also fuels, such as E85, composed of 85% ethanol and the remaining 15% petrol. However it is sadly known for being highly corrosive: without an ad hoc engine, careless use can cause irreparable damage to the car and the environment.
THE FIAT EXPERIMENT IN BRAZIL
Also for this reason Fiat, coincidentally for the South American market, since 2006 developed Tetrafuel, a 4-cylinder for Fiat Siena aimed at Brazil. It could be fueled with three variants of petrol: methane, a blend of petrol and ethanol or ethanol of vegetable origin, which is one of the most widely used alternative fuels in South America. The new project now seems to be the natural heir of these experiments, which stopped exactly 11 years ago, in 2012.
STELLANTIS BETS ON ETHANOL
The company's CEO in South America, Antonio Filosa said the state of Minas Gerais will be the epicenter of ethanol hybrid cars for Stellantis, which has three plants in Brazil, two in Argentina and an industry association in Uruguay.
Filosa also said it plans to launch a total of 43 vehicles from eight different brands in the region during 2021-2025, with planned investments of more than 16 billion reais (about $3.14 billion). However, South America is also tempting for Asian brands: in Brazil there are the Japanese Toyota and the Chinese Chery , and compatriot BYD Co Ltd could arrive very soon.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/perche-stellantis-accelera-con-letanolo/ on Wed, 01 Feb 2023 11:11:44 +0000.