New Stellantis arm to extend combustion car lifespans

Stellantis, the parent company of 14 marques, including Citroën, Peugeot and Vauxhall, has outlined plans to extend the lives of ICE cars by reusing parts, if necessary by ‘remanufacturing’ them. The plans are pitched as part of a carbon-reduction programme run the company’s new Circular Economy Business unit, led by former Stellantis UK head Alison Jones. Stellantis aims to increase its share of what it sees as a growing business of keeping ICE vehicles alive as legalisation favours more expensive electric cars and eventually bans ICE cars altogether (from 2035 in the UK and the European Union). “The affordability of mobility is a challenge. Extending the life of vehicles is one way we can support that,” Jones said in an online presentation on Tuesday. “It’s good for our customers and good for the planet.” However, the initiative won't cannibalise new-car sales, including those of new EVs, Jones promised. The additional CO2 emitted by extending the life of ICE cars will be offset by the savings in manufacturing costs of new vehicles and parts, she claimed. Stellantis is confident that it can quadruple this side of its business by 2030, from an annual revenue of €528 million (£463m) last year to €2 billion (£1.7bn) by 2030. It plans to do that by getting more life out of vehicle parts, either by remanufacturing them to as-new specification, reusing parts from scrapped cars or by recycling metal and plastics to turn them into new parts. Remanufacturing compromises about 95% of this business, Jones said, and involves overhauling the parts and selling them on with an as-new warranty. Stellantis is already well positioned to expand this aspect of its business. The company already offers 12,000 remanufactured parts that have been dismantled, cleaned-up and sold with an as-new warranty, covering about 15% of its huge model portfolio. It aims to increase that parts coverage to 40% by 2030, Jones said. Stellantis will offer these parts via its Distrigo parts distribution network, while those parts sold from scrapped vehicles for reuse without the warrantied overhaul will be offered through the company’s B-Parts e-commerce platform, which connects scrapyards from seven European countries and sends parts worldwide. Autocar Business previously reported that Citroën is also exploring 15-year, 155,000-mile car leases backed entirely by remanufactured and recycled parts. Remanufactured parts are cheaper by around 10-30% than a new part. “Because they’re a lower-cost to produce, that reduces both our central warranty costs and the costs for our customers, so it works both ways,” Jones said. Remanufactured parts currently offered include engines from brands such as Jeep and Ram, available to dealer networks and private customers in the US. Much of this business is currently left to dismantlers and salvage companies as dealerships mainly prioritise new parts to make repairs. Stellantis reckons that by recycling end-of-life parts, it can make savings of up to 80% on materials and 50% on energy compared with using new parts. It targets a 10-fold increase in recycling revenues by 10 times compared with 2021. Parts made with recycled elements will be sold under the label of Sustainera. Stellantis will work with suppliers to make the remanufacturing of their parts easier, as well expanding current agreements to use more recycled material in their initial production. Stellantis last month announced the creation of its first Circular Economy Hub in the Mirafiori Fiat factory in Turin, Italy, where it will dismantle cars and salvage parts for remanufacturing and recondition used cars for resale. The company will also set up what it calls "local loops" in big cities to avoid the need to ship used cars long distances, citing its work in Brazil. No UK details were given. Stellantis recently showed off its new circular economy principles in the CitroeÌn Oli concept, a family vehicle made from recycled materials using sustainable production processes. It was designed to showcase “affordability, durability for an extended service life and responsible end-of-life recyclability”, the company said. Stellantis isn't the only one eyeing up revenue from keeping older vehicles on the road. Vehicle refurbishment is the prime aim of Renault at its Refactory in Flins, France, which currently processes around 55 vehicles an hour for resale. These are typically between two and five years old, with fewer than 100,000km (62,000 miles) on the clock. And Toyota has said it will begin refurbishing British cars at its Burnaston factory for its new Kinto mobility arm, with the aim of both extending their life and keeping them within the Toyota network to take advantage of their increased value.