Stellantis Korea Managing Director Bang Sil speaks during a press conference in Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of Stellantis Korea

By Lee Min-hyung

Stellantis Korea will focus on regaining customers’ trust and improving its brand identity to survive in the ever-toughening market competition here, the car company’s new head said Monday.

Two major brands from the firm’s portfolio are Jeep and Peugeot. The company’s leader said it will take gradual steps to recover its overall brand image as part of its major management strategy this year.

“We will prioritize restoration of customers’ trust in 2024, rather than pushing for any aggressive sales expansion campaigns,” Stellantis Korea Managing Director Bang Sil told reporters during a press conference.

The remark came amid the deepening polarization of the local car industry. In Korea, domestic players such as Hyundai Motor and Kia and only a small group of German luxury carmakers have achieved noteworthy sales growth in the past few years. Other imported carmakers are, on the other hand, struggling to rev up their sluggish sales.

But the head of Stallantis Korea displayed confidence in attracting more customers with its iconic SUV lineup.

“The Korean car market comes with challenges and opportunities for us,” she said. “Even if Korean carmakers and some German premium brands expand their footing here, I would say that Jeep and Peugeot still have enough room for growth, as was shown by strong customer demand for SUVs and hybrid vehicles.”

She added, “Customers’ tastes are getting more and more diversified, so they have cravings for other choices.”

Targeting the demand, Jeep plans to launch the Avenger, its first-ever all-electric SUV, in the latter half of this year, and Peugeot is also set to release its mild hybrid version of the 308 compact vehicle.

Stellantis Korea also promised to build a more systemic maintenance infrastructure for its brands here. To that end, the company will build more sophisticated electric vehicle (EV) repair centers and partner with local educational institutions to train more technicians amid the ongoing market paradigm shift driven by electrification.

“Products are the most important part to improve our brand image,” Bang said. “We are in internal review to build a sales portfolio that best represents the identity of our Jeep and Peugeot brands.”