Stellantis to set up ASEAN EV manufacturing hub; Gurun plant evaluated for domestic, export markets
Automotive group Stellantis is evaluating its manufacturing plant in Gurun, Kedah for its potential to become a regional manufacturing hub for battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) destined for domestic and export markets in the ASEAN region, it has announced.
Stellantis took full ownership of Naza Automotive Manufacturing (NAM) and its Gurun plant in November 2021, which currently produces the Peugeot 2008, 3008 and 5008 SUVs which are sold in Malaysia as well as exported to the Philippines, Thailand and Cambodia.
According to its statement, Stellantis is “aiming to bring the STLA Medium platform to the ASEAN region” which will enable the group to manufacture multi-energy vehicles (combustion, mild-hybrids and BEVs) in the ASEAN region for the ASEAN market, which can result in local sourcing opportunities for local suppliers and manufacturers of over RM5 billion over the next four years, it said.
Stellantis’ investment in the ASEAN market for electrification “could include growth due to a local electrification ecosystem, including the local assembly of battery packs and related new job opportunities,” and thus open up new opportunities beyond vehicle manufacturing, it said.
The STLA Medium is one of three unibody BEV platforms on the group’s architecture that is intended for compact vehicles with battery packs of between 87 and 104 kWh in capacity for up to 700 km of range. Outside the unibody platforms, there is the STLA Frame for body-on-frame builds for large pick-up trucks and commercial vehicles.
Beyond Stellantis’ consideration of the Gurun, Kedah plant as a regional hub for EV manufacture, the automotive group has partnered with the Indonesian government and other Indonesian stakeholders as part of the automaker’s localisation and upstream battery materials investment plan.
Through an agreement with its Indonesian partner, Indomobil Group, Stellantis will begin local assembly of Citroën vehicles in Indonesia from 2024, the automaker group said in its statement.
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