VERONA, Italy, May 18 (Reuters) - Stellantis will
start a reshuffle of its European dealers' network next year
from Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands, and its van and
premium brands in all markets, its regional sales chief said on
Wednesday.
As part of its efforts to cut costs and finance its
electrification strategy, the carmaker, formed through the
merger of Fiat Chrysler and France's PSA, has said it would end
all current sales and services contracts with European dealers
for its 14 brands, effective form June 2023.
The plan is to move its distribution structure in Europe
towards an "agency model," where carmakers take more control of
sales transactions and prices while dealers focus on handovers
and servicing, no longer acting as the customer's contractual
partner.
"We will start in June next year with all our van brands and
with our premium brands - Alfa Romeo, DS and Lancia - in all
markets, and on three pilot markets, Austria, Belgium and the
Netherlands with all our brands," Stellantis' sales chief for
'Enlarged Europe' region Maria Grazia Davino said.
She added the new distribution structure would be
operational in all of Europe's 10 largest markets by 2026.
"We will anticipate all that we can, but this is our
schedule at the moment," she said during an "Automotive dealer
day" event in Verona, northern Italy.
Davino said core elements of the new contract Stellantis
will propose to retailers are expected to be ready by this
summer, while a final set up would be prepared by year-end.
"Our direction is to envisage a 5% fee for our retailers on
new cars sold, we're working on this hypothesis," she said.
"We're into a transition of course, then we'll see."
She added that in the first stage of this process retailers
would earn different fees for different brands, with some higher
ones for premium brands. Retailers will also get a variable
performance bonus based on sales targets, she said.
(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari
Editing by Keith Weir)