KUALA LUMPUR: As part of its growth ambitions in the ASEAN region, Stellantis N.V. (Stellantis) is set to establish a new National Sales Company (NSC) in Malaysia in the first quarter of 2024. The move aligns with the company’s electrification plans as well as its global Dare Forward 2030 strategy. 

Stellantis is one of the world’s leading automakers and a mobility provider, formed from the merger of the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and the PSA Group. It owns a total of 14 brands: Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Citroën, Dodge, DS, Fiat, Jeep, Lancia, Maserati, Opel, Peugeot, Ram, and Vauxhall. 

The National Sales Company will manage the sale and distribution of Stellantis’s vehicles in Malaysia. Currently, Peugeot is the only Stellantis brand in Malaysia, which is distributed by Bermaz Auto Alliance (BAA). NSC will take over the Peugeot next year, but in the meantime, BAA will continue to operate vehicle sales through its own network, confirms Stellantis.

"We are excited to announce this new business strategy to serve the Malaysian market with more products and services under the new NSC structure. This includes the future introduction of new brands to Malaysia under the Stellantis portfolio,” said Daniel Gonzalez, Chief Operating Officer for ASEAN & General Distributors at Stellantis. 

While appreciating Bermaz Auto, Gonzalez said, “Bermaz Auto is a valued partner and has built a solid foundation for the PEUGEOT brand in Malaysia since December 2020, which will greatly help our transition to the NSC structure. I would like to thank Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Ben Yeoh, the Executive Chairman of Bermaz Auto, and his team for everything that Bermaz Auto has done to develop the PEUGEOT brand to where it is today.”

BAA will continue working with Stellantis during this transition period. Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Ben Yeoh said, “Bermaz Auto is fully supportive of Stellantis’ global ambition, in line with its Dare Forward 2030 strategy, and is pleased to partake in this bold move going forward.”

“From the onset of our partnership, we adopted the role of being the custodian of the PEUGEOT brand in Malaysia, as we are passionate in building brands. Hence, we gladly accepted the challenge in 2020 and together with the Stellantis team, we worked diligently to further develop the brand in Malaysia. Today, we are proud to be able to steer it in the direction where Stellantis is ready to take it further. We are fully supportive of Stellantis’ global ambition,” Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Ben Yeoh added.

The leadership of the National Sales Company will be in the hands of Jamie Francis Morais, who is the current Head of Aftersales for Stellantis' ASEAN & General Distributors operations. Morais brings with him 19 years of valuable experience in the automotive industry, having worked with renowned global brands such as Toyota, BMW, Nissan, and Proton. His extensive leadership experience covers various facets of operations, including aftersales, network management, customer service, quality assurance, sales, and training.

The company’s strategy for the ASEAN region also comprises electrification ambitions. It will evaluate the potential of the Gurun plant in Kedah to manufacture pure electric vehicles for both domestic and export markets in ASEAN. 

The automaker is investing over RM 2 billion to introduce the STLA Medium platform in the region. The modular design of the said platform allows the production of multi-energy vehicles (BEV, ICE, MHEV) and local manufacturing of several brands of the automaker, including Jeep and Citroën. 

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