FLEET & BUSINESS SOLUTIONS
Stellantis puts customers ‘at the heart of everything we do’ by providing fleets with the vehicles they need, when they need them
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Multi energy platform investment supports customer-first strategy
From major fleets such as Royal Mail to SMEs, we value the confidence UK businesses place in us and in the breadth of cars and vans offered across our renowned brands. We also support UK emergency services with police vehicles and ambulances, demonstrating the quality, performance and reliability of our range every day. Our Ellesmere Port manufacturing hub produces all electric vans for UK customers, and our electric car and van line-up now includes more than 40 models - where we have already seen strong success and where salary sacrifice continues to expand our opportunity. We learn from our customers every day and work constantly to be the partner they rely on.
Stellantis has reaffirmed its commitment to multi-energy platforms which provide fleets with the vehicles they need, when they need them, as part of its customer-first strategy.
Investment in production facilities and models ensures all cars across all mainstream brands can be built as battery electric vehicles (BEVs), internal combustion engine (ICE), plug-in hybrid (PHEV) or mild hybrid (MHEV), with volumes adjusted to meet market demands.
UK Managing Director Eurig Druce says: “That’s the strategy we took because we second-guessed that this kind of transition would be politically liable to change. We were criticised a few years ago for not maybe going full BEV in terms of our investment. I think that decision has proved to be the right one.”
Druce highlights the impending Government review of the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate in 2027, suggesting that it could create uncertainty in the market, which is “the last thing we want”.
He adds: “There’s no doubt we need to move away from fossil fuels globally. Whether that’s electric, hydrogen, or something else. Right now, electric is the solution. The challenge is the pace of transition: there’s a big gap between Government ambition, Government support and actual consumer demand.”
While Stellantis is meeting its bespoke ZEV Mandate target, as it did in 2024 and 2025, the total market is tracking at a little more than 22% zero emission cars, against a Government target of 33% for 2026, largely due to a continued lack of demand from retail buyers.
That shortfall is forcing many manufacturers into what Druce calls a “push market”.
He explains: “When you have that gap between natural demand and what you have to deliver, cars are pushed into the market. That creates pressure on residual values and makes it incredibly difficult to sell new cars. It’s a doomed situation.”
Falling residual values for EVs have become a major concern for fleets and leasing companies, creating a negative loop that undermines both new and used car markets.
Druce believes the Government needs a 360-degree plan which doesn’t just include charging infrastructure, but the cost of electricity too.
This is particularly pertinent when considering the huge EV-only production plant at Ellesmere Port. Stellantis is investing £50 million to expand production to its range of mid-size vans; the facility currently makes the small eLCV line-up.
Druce adds: “We have 40 models in the UK available as full electric vehicles. We’re able to do that transition, but you can’t do it from a manufacturer or dealer network side alone.
“This kind of transition is a generational, multi-generational change in the way that we go about driving our cars. That requires a comprehensive plan from the Government.
“If we are going to make that transition, we have to be all in. We can’t be in a scenario where there are fines for non-compliance, but nothing to drive the public towards choosing those vehicles.”
The breadth of the Stellantis portfolio, particularly on EVs, is a major strength when the company is speaking to corporate fleet customers.
It is also supporting the eLCV transition for small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) by introducing BEV price parity at a transactional level with ICE to enable them to make an informed choice on the best vehicle for their fleet, without fixating on price.
Tom Ray, B2B Director, highlights the fact that Stellantis was an early adopter of battery technology, giving it extensive experience and knowledge.
“We are leveraging our experience to help fleet managers to create strategies at a pace that suits their business,” he says.
“We have a use case-driven approach, it is not a one-size-fits-all policy.”
He adds: “This is part of our customer-first strategy. We are putting them at the heart of everything we do; this is our long-term goal.”
The creation of Stellantis early in 2021 saw the fleet team evolve from individual account managers to multi-branded experts, able to advise across the full portfolio and provide customers with a single point of contact.
“The teams are experts in channels rather than specialising in single brands,” Ray says. “But we also have product brand managers who have greater insight. It was important to bring the teams together without damaging brand integrity.”
Ray oversees four key channels, supported by a cross-brand back office team:
1. Rental
2. Leasing, for contract hire companies and brokers
3. Major fleets of 500-plus vehicles
4. Corporates, typically 150-500 vehicles
A special vehicle operations (SVO) team handles anything that requires heavy modification, working across the matrix.
In addition, a virtual account management team handles fleets with 50-150 vehicles, enabling a speedier response, supported by the corporate team where required.
Customers running fewer vehicles are managed by the retailer network, with support from Stellantis.
With the structure now firmly embedded, a key priority over the next 12 months is to ensure business continuity.
Ray acknowledges the disruption which occurred during the formation of the organisation, with some churn among fleet directors.
“It took work to cross-pollinate our people and processes,” he says. “But the structure and team have been consistent for the past 18 months and that is important to our strategy of putting customers first.”
Stellantis has invested heavily in its logistics operation, including Ellesmere Port and its parts distribution centre which supplies more than four million items a year across a hub-and-spoke structure to dealers and authorised repairers.
Currently undergoing pilot in the UK and USA is Pro One Next, an exciting new programme to proactively manage downtime for LCV fleet customers, combining a proactive approach to detecting breakdowns, an uptime command centre orchestrating the repair between the dealer and the customer, and an aftersales network dedicated to minimising LCV downtime.
“The Uptime Command Centre utilises telematics for real-time monitoring,” says Ray. “We can expedite VORs that are delayed; for example, we can see if a vehicle is not moving at the retailer and contact them to push it through or understand any blockers and apply outside the box solutions to get the vehicle back on the road as swiftly as possible.” Pro One Next will be launched for vans but learnings will be progressively rolled out to cars overtime.
Stellantis is planning a model offensive in the coming years, including expansion into new segments. This could include the Fiat Tris, a three-wheeled electric last-mile micromobility solution shown at the Commercial Vehicle Show.
Offering range of up to 90km and available as flat bed or cargo variant, Tris garnered a lot of interest and is slated for launch next year.
“We have the aftersales infrastructure and power of Stellantis to back these types of innovative final mile solutions,” Ray says.
“Our technician training has been focused on BEVs for a long time to support the transition. We are ahead of the curve.”
Delivering the highest level of service to our business customers is a priority for everyone at Stellantis UK. Last year, we sold more than 136,000 new cars and vans to businesses of all sizes.
Eurig Druce, Stellantis UK Managing Director
“Our technician training has been focused on BEVs to support fleets’ transition. We are ahead of the curve”
Tom Ray, B2B Director
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