Ford Rival Stellantis Will Also Develop Low Cost EV Platform

Stellantis – like most automakers these days – has recently pivoted away from its ambitious pure EV plans, and now intends to continue to offer a variety of powertrains for the foreseeable future, including hybrids. However, the Ford rival certainly hasn’t given up on the idea of expanding its all-electric vehicle lineup, as it has several of them in the pipeline. Now, Stellantis is also reportedly working on a low-cost EV platform just like Ford has been doing for the past couple of years, which could underpin more than one future model.

This news comes to us from Reuters, and is based on some recent comments from Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares. Tavares was quick to blast tariffs on Chinese vehicles as “anticompetitive” and a “trap,” as he believes that they’ll ultimately hurt legacy automakers by concealing the fact that rivals from that part of the world have perfected the process of churning out EVs at a third less than American companies. Instead, Tavares believes that the best way to combat this development is to “try to be Chinese ourselves,” which is precisely why the company purchased a stake in EV maker Leapmotor last year – one that will grant it access to that company’s technology and the right to produce its vehicles outside of China.

Those same tariffs could pour cold water on any plans Stellantis may have to build and sell Leapmotor EVs in the U.S., which likely plays a big role in the distaste that Tavares has for the financial restrictions, too. Regardless, the fact that the automaker wants to develop its own low-cost EV platform is just its latest attempt to regain faith from its U.S. dealer network, though the automaker is also facing unfair labor charges from the United Auto Workers (UAW) union after allegedly failing to live up to its end of the most recent master contract agreement between the two sides.

Meanwhile, Ford is betting the proverbial farm on its own low-cost EV platform skunkworks team, which will first underpin a mid-size pickup, as well as a crossover and rideshare vehicle, potentially. One of the biggest stressors of that project thus far has been finding ways to trim costs from that model to make it competitive, however, according to CEO Jim Farley himself.