Stellantis to produce electric cars in Serbia

Representatives of the Stellantis company and the Serbian cabinet signed a contract on financing the manufacturing of electric cars at the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles car factory in Kragujevac in Belgrade on Thursday.

After the signing, President Aleksandar Vučić said that a new era of investing in Serbia had begun. After a meeting with Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares, Vučić said that the FIAT Chrysler automobile factory in the capital will have to be altered to start making electric cars early in 2024. The investment is worth €190 million, with the government of Serbia securing €48 million of the total.

He added that the manufacturing of electric cars would begin in the third quarter of 2024.

Vučić said that the state’s strategy has to change to build charging stations and consider electricity prices and renewable power sources. “We are changing our complete view of the economy and ecology… We have to alter our strategic energy plans. A new era starts today,” he told the news conference.

Tavares said that Stellantis is preparing to launch at least 75 new electric car models by 2030, of which 50 will be in Europe. He said that the plant in Kragujevac will have to adapt to the latest production by the end of 2023.

Stellantis was created in 2021 after the Italian-US Fiat Chrysler Automobiles conglomerate merged with the French Peugeot Citroen Group PSA.