MILAN (Reuters) - Stellantis is reviewing the timing and structure of a planned reorganisation of its European dealers' network after a four-country pilot programme revealed IT glitches, a spokesperson for the automaker said on Thursday.
As part of efforts to cut costs and support investments for electrification, the world's third-largest automaker has ended its previous contracts with European dealers and is moving towards a new distribution framework based on an "agency model".
In an agency model, carmakers take more direct control of sales transactions and prices, while dealers focus on deliveries and servicing and no longer act as the customer's contractual partner.
In September, Stellantis tested the model in Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, with an initial plan to roll it out across Europe next year for premium and light commercial vehicle brands, and for large volume brands by 2027.
The spokesperson said the Franco-Italian group, owner of brands including Fiat and Peugeot, now planned to advance with a market by market approach, involving all the group's brands at a time for each individual market.
"The pilot phase did not give the expected results on the IT side so our aim is now to reduce complexity in comparison with the previous plan," he said. "This way, we're also accelerating the implementation of the whole process".
The reshuffle is now scheduled to involve a new market every three months, with a 6-10 week test period for each before full implementation.
The process is now scheduled to be completed by the end of 2026 in the group's 10 large European markets, where it has a direct commercial base.
The news was first disclosed earlier on Thursday in an interview with Automotive News Europe given by Uwe Hochgeschurtz, Stellantis Chief Operating Officer for the group's 'enlarged Europe' region.