French automaker Stellantis (ex-PSA) announced a major partnership with Amazon on Wednesday. A partnership that has several components, and which foreshadows the manufacturer’s digital strategy.
At the heart of this deal is the Alexa voice control system and AWS cloud. The two groups announced a series of partnerships at CES. Their collaboration thanks to these two bricks should make it possible to develop software for vehicle interiors, but also for data storage and training.
Stellantis puts its data on AWS
Concretely, the data of the connected vehicles will be transferred to the AWS servers. Data which are bound to be more and more numerous with the rise of autonomous driving supported by the 5G network.
“Smart cockpit”
Stellantis will also design with Amazon the software for its “Smart cockpit”, ie an electronic platform that will be integrated into the vehicles of its 14 brands from 2024.
The Smart cockpit will integrate Amazon voice assistance, Alexa, GPS guidance, vehicle maintenance management, online shopping platforms and payment services.
“The two companies will develop a suite of software products and services integrated into the digital world of users, with updates” over-the-air “,” detailed the two groups in a statement.
Stellantis will also integrate Amazon into its “Software Academy”, which must train the group’s employees in the future of automotive electronics.
Stellantis wants to ramp up service revenue
Stellantis – born from the merger of Peugeot-Citroën and Fiat-Chrysler – wants to invest 30 billion euros by 2025 in its program for the electrification of its vehicles, of which 15 to 20% will go into software.
By connecting its fleet of vehicles, the Franco-Italian-American manufacturer wants to achieve 4 billion euros in turnover per year with these new services by 2026. This turnover is currently 400 million euros. euros per year.
By 2030, with potentially 34 million connected vehicles around the world, this figure is expected to reach 20 billion euros, or about one-eighth of Stellantis’ annual turnover.
A strategy pursued by all car manufacturers
And all car manufacturers are following the same movement. Ford and Renault recently announced partnerships with Google, for its cloud and its cars. Microsoft claims partnerships with Volkswagen and General Motors.
Announcements between industrial and digital giants which, obviously, arouse the dissatisfaction of smaller and local players, like Qwant a few months ago.
Stellantis electric vans for Amazon deliveries
Amazon also undertakes within the framework of these agreements to order “thousands” of electric vehicles “per year” from 2023 at Ram, its American brand of utilities, owned by Stellantis. The Ram ProMaster electric van will thus become the benchmark model for Amazon deliveries across the Atlantic.
Amazon has already been a Stellantis customer since 2018. Tens of thousands of light commercial vehicles (LCVs), including Ram ProMasters and Fiat Ducato, as well as light commercial vehicles from Peugeot and Citroën, have already been purchased by Amazon for deliveries in North America and Europe.
“We are excited to work with Stellantis to transform the automotive industry and reinvent the in-vehicle customer experience,” said Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon. “We are inventing solutions that will allow Stellantis to strengthen its connectivity and personalization capacities, in order to offer each occupant a connected and personalized moment in complete safety on board the vehicle. “