STELLANTIS has solidified its commitment to Malaysia, securing full ownership of Naza Automotive Manufacturing Sdn Bhd (NAM) and its manufacturing plant located in Gurun, Kedah, on Oct 28.
The completed acquisition marks a significant milestone for Stellantis in South East Asia, with plans to invest and dramatically expand its footprint as part of a robust localisation strategy.
“Stellantis is deeply committed to growing our presence in Asean and taking full ownership and responsibility of the plant in Gurun, Kedah is a very important step towards strengthening our operations, production outputs and workforce in the region,” said Christophe Musy, senior vice president, Asean & general distributors at Stellantis.
“We have an ambitious growth strategy that will enable us to build on the existing production outputs in Gurun, as well as extend the breadth of brands and models within the Stellantis portfolio built in Asean for Asean. This is a very exciting proposition.”
Stellantis recently restarted manufacturing in Gurun, with the launch of the refreshed Peugeot 3008 and 5008 currently rolling out across the region, two vehicles gleaning international success in Europe.
Furthermore, the much-anticipated Peugeot 2008 will also commence production this month in Gurun, bringing to the Asean region a lucrative new compact SUV offering from the high-end brand.
“We are focused on our mission to achieve world-class manufacturing in Gurun, to build high-quality, Malaysian-produced vehicles for South East Asia.
“This includes the internationally-acclaimed refreshed 3008 and 5008 updates and the new 2008, three vehicles that will elevate the superior offering of the Peugeot brand in this region,” said Musy.
The Stellantis manufacturing plant in Gurun has achieved pre-pandemic production rates since it restarted operations, with volumes now ramping up for the remainder of 2021, to re-establish car flow to
Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and other Asean markets.
“In spite of the pandemic we are extremely proud to see increased customer demand for Peugeot in the region,” said Musy.
“We are working closely with our partners to increase plant capacity by almost 40 per cent to meet demand, and this combined with our strong product plan and determination to achieve the highest standards in quality and safety has set us up for great success in Malaysia.”
Since reopening the plant, Stellantis has strictly enforced safety protocols advised by Malaysian authorities in addition to internally mandated procedures. Mandatory masks and face shields are provided to employees, with daily temperature checks, ventilation measures, social distancing protocols and ongoing training and communication of Covid-prevention measures mandated on site.
Over 170 employees have returned to work and Stellantis is working with over 50 local suppliers as production increases for the last quarter of 2021.
In 2018, Peugeot owner the PSA Group (now part of Stellantis) acquired a 56% stake in NAM, looking at making Malaysia its export hub for Peugeot, Citroen and DS vehicles.
