Dive Brief:
- Stellantis will pour $155 million into its three Kokomo, Indiana, plants to manufacture electric drive modules to power its future EVs, the company announced last week.
- The automaker’s modules — which are packed with an electric motor, power electronics and transmission — will be produced between its Kokomo Casting, Kokomo Transmission and Indiana Transmission plants.
- With 25 battery EV launches planned between now and 2030, the modules will be featured in two of Stellantis’ four EV platforms. Production is slated to begin in Q3 2024 after the plants are retooled.
Dive Insight:
The investment in its Kokomo, Indiana, facilities comes after Stellantis’ idled an assembly plant in Belvidere, Illinois, last month. The automaker cited rising EV production costs as the main factor in its decision to halt operations.
CEO Carlos Tavares doubled down on this reason in a recent earnings call. With electrification requiring more expensive technology and assembly, making it affordable means “transforming the company,” he told investors.
“Stellantis, like other automakers, are trying to make their current operations of building gas powered vehicles so they can invest in electrification and mobility that doesn’t make money yet,” Michelle Krebs, executive analyst for Cox Automotive, told Manufacturing Dive in an email at the time of the Belvidere announcement.
The Netherlands-based automaker is growing its local EV production capabilities as it works to electrify half of its U.S. offerings by 2030.
Since 2020, Stellantis has invested nearly $3.3 billion in Kokomo, according to the release. Last May, Stellantis announced it partnered with Samsung SDI to build a $2.5 billion EV battery plant in the Indiana town.
“With more than 7,000 employees in Indiana, these investments will leverage the core manufacturing competencies of the local workforce in the areas of casting, machining and assembly, all of which will be needed even as the market transitions to an electrified future,” Stellantis North America COO Mark Stewart said in a statement.
