Stellantis said it would reorganize its European dealers’ network in July next year, starting in Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
“The rest of Europe will progressively follow in the implementation of the new distribution scheme,” Stellantis said on Thursday.
As part of its efforts to cut costs and support investment for electrification, Stellantis last year said it would end all current sales and services contracts with European dealers for all of its 14 brands, from June 2023.
The plan is to move towards an “agency model” in which carmakers take more control of sales transactions and prices while dealers focus on deliveries and servicing, no longer acting as the customer’s contractual partner.
Uwe Hochgeschurtz, Stellantis’ chief operating officer for Europe, said the group aimed to promote a “sustainable” distribution model and all stakeholders would benefit.
Stellantis said it ran a comparative economic simulation showing that, under the new planned distribution model, dealers would enjoy “at least equivalent profitability” and reduced exposure to risks.
A spokesman for the company said Stellantis’ light commercial vehicle brands would enter the new distribution structure from Jan. 1, 2024.
Stellantis was formed form the merger of Fiat Chrysler and PSA Group. Its brands in Europe include Fiat,Alfa Romeo, Peugeot, Citroen and Opel.