The next new model from Stellantis’ Chrysler brand will be a two-row electric crossover in 2025

• The European automaker, Volkswagen, wants to launch an under $35,000 electric vehicle in the US market in the near future
• Ganesh Iyer, CEO of Nio, maker of electric vehicles, said the company was looking to to build infrastructure before launching it in the US market
• Artificial intelligence (AI) and data are important ingredients in future mobility: Evangelos Simoudis, investor and author

The first announcement came from Stellantis that a new two-row electric crossover to be launched in 2025. Volkswagen announced a $35,000 electric car will be introduced in three to four years, while the Chinese automaker Nio was still confident of its launch in 2025 in North America.

Speaking at the auto conference, the Chrysler Brand CEO, Ms Christine Feuell, said, “The next new model from Stellantis’ Chrysler brand will be a two-row electric crossover in 2025.”

A new sedan is also on the drawing boards, according to her, as its Chrysler 300 is being phased out. Feuell said the design of the new crossover is inspired by the Chrysler Airflow concept unveiled at the 2022 CES (Consumer Electronics Show), a signature event held in Las Vegas at the dawn of every New Year.

The new crossover will share the STLA Large architecture with other Stellantis models, she said adding that the company was still considering the size of a new sedan. Without elaborating any details she said a new concept version will be unveiled early next year.

Automaker Stellantis' Chrysler brand plans to shift to an all-electric lineup by 2028 https://t.co/1adGe1oKxR pic.twitter.com/FJKUJI3Ao3

— Reuters (@Reuters) January 6, 2022

According to her, Chrysler would continue the popular hybrid gas-electric Pacifica minivan “through end of decade.” The two other competitors in this segment are Toyota’s Sienna and Honda’s Odyssey. The brand is testing a digital “customer experience” website where consumers can configure, order and schedule delivery of new vehicles, she said.

The European automaker, Volkswagen, wants to launch an under $35,000 electric vehicle in the US market in the near future. Stating that the company was not scaling back plans for EVs in the US market.  Reinhard Fischer, senior vice president and head of strategy at VW Group in America, said it is also looking at Mexico for manufacture of this model.

VW also is exploring the possibility of  localizing assembly of battery packs for the new EV so that it can qualify for additional incentives under the US Inflation Reduction Act. It may be noted that the European automaker had planned to  to build battery cells in Canada for its current and future North American-built EVs.

Ganesh Iyer, CEO of Nio, maker of electric vehicles, said the company was looking to to build infrastructure before launching it in the US market. It was open to any kind of partnership, he said without elaborating more on it.  A lot of changes had taken place in terms of geopolitics, global supply chains and other factors affecting the decision to sell cars in the US.

Evangelos Simoudis, investor and author said artificial intelligence (AI) and data are important ingredients in future mobility. He said automakers should develop and deploy vehicles with embedded software systems that make them more easily reconfigured and upgraded to capture a larger percentage of the customer’s lifetime value. In this keynote session, Marina Saint Lary, Chief Solution Officer / Managing Director at Globant, spoke on  the journey of how cars have evolved from a practical vehicle that gets you from A to B, to a fully connected user experience. She’ll spoke about how this evolution changes every aspect of the automotive industry, from marketing to sales to manufacturing to talent management.

Topics that were discussed included reconstructing the entire value chain to facilitate the EV revolution, how advanced technology solutions are shaping EV rollout strategies and optimizing manufacturing processes through Industry 4.0 technology, such as artificial intelligence, robotics, cloud computing and IoT. The role of OEMs in the new dispensation with the automotive industry pledging to be exclusively manufacturing EVs by 2035 was also discussed.

(Narasimhan Kasthuri  was a veteran journalist with The Hindu and Financial Express covering business, IT etc. Now, in the US West Coast, he covers technology for NE. He can be contacted at @narasimhan.kasturi@yahoo.com, Mobile: +1 (650) 793-0056)