Citroën to be “Trimmed” as Part of Stellantis’ Overall Brand Strategy
Stellantis is shifting its focus to its four major brands and relegating less profitable brands to “selective investment” as CEO, Antonio Filosa, moves aggressively to regain momentum and restore profitable growth.
His new strategy for the overhaul of Stellantis’ 14 brands is expected to be unveiled at the company’s Investor Day on May 21 in Detroit where reportedly Jeep, Ram, Peugeot, and Fiat will now receive the bulk of Stellantis’ investment along with a “material increase” in funding, while the remaining brands like Citroën, Alfa Romeo, Opel, and Maserati will be promoted mostly in regions where the vehicles are more popular, such as France for Citroën and China for the Maserati.
This marks a departure from Stellantis’ earlier approach of allocating investment more evenly across its entire brand portfolio. The strategy seeks to rebuild market share in the U.S. and Europe while contending with intensifying competition from Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers.
It is expected that Stellantis will keep its full 14‑brand portfolio, the largest in the industry, without shutting down weaker marques. Instead, the company intends to reposition secondary brands such as Citroën, Opel, and Alfa Romeo into regional or niche roles. These brands will continue to use shared platforms and technologies developed by the core marques while preserving their own design language and market identities.
Bloomberg reported earlier this month that Stellantis was in discussions to revive a partnership with Dongfeng that would involve joint car production in Europe and China. Plans included starting the production of cars in China under the Peugeot brand with Dongfeng, reviving a partnership that had run into trouble in past years as Peugeot, and to some extent Citroën, had previously pulled back from China.
Peugeot views China as key for its strategy going forward, brand Chief Executive Officer Alain Favey said in the statement.
The vehicles will be produced by Dongfeng at its Wuhan plant for the Chinese market and will also be exported to overseas markets, Stellantis said, confirming an earlier report by Bloomberg News.
Additionally, the company is assessing re-badging options and joint development initiatives, including potential collaborations with its other Chinese partner, Leapmotor.
Dongfeng and Leapmotor and are separate, independent companies: Leapmotor is a Chinese EV manufacturer and Dongfeng Motor Corporation is a large state-linked Chinese automaker/group. Stellantis has an equity stake in Leapmotor (around 15–20% after its 2023/2024 investments) and a majority stake in the joint venture Leapmotor International (for sales/production outside China). Stellantis has historical and ongoing ties with Dongfeng through earlier joint ventures.
To what extent Citroën models will be produced in China, or how the brand might be scaled back in existing markets other than France, remains to be seen.