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Stellantis Ditches All Diesel and Gasoline Passenger Vans in Europe, Will Only Sell EVs

Starting this year, Stellantis-owned brands such as Peugeot, Citroen and Opel will only sell fully electric variants of their compact and mid-size passenger van models in Europe, with all internal-combustion engine models being dropped effective immediately.
Stellantis to only sell electric passenger van models 6 photos
Photo: Stellantis
Stellantis to only sell electric passenger van modelsStellantis to only sell electric passenger van modelsStellantis to only sell electric passenger van modelsStellantis to only sell electric passenger van modelsStellantis to only sell electric passenger van models
This decision was made so that these models could remain desirable going forward, said CEOs for the brands in separate news releases.

“Electrification is a particularly sensitive issue for the future of the MPV segments,” said Citroen in a statement. “Their silhouette and their weight lead them to consume more fuel, as gas prices continue to rise. This situation will rapidly reduce the relevance of gasoline or diesel offerings for these models.”

Models going full electric include the compact Citroen Berlingo, Opel Combo Life and Peugeot Rifter, plus midsize models like the Citroen Jumpy, Citroen SpaceTourer, Opel Vivaro/Zafira and Peugeot Expert/Traveller. Fiat on the other hand has yet to announce a similar policy.

Passenger vans sold very well in Europe last year, with the Citroen Berlingo becoming the second best-selling compact car-derived van out there, with 26,179 units sold, as reported by Autonews Europe. It trailed the VW Caddy (28,502 units sold) but was ahead of the Peugeot Rifter (22,490 units sold).

Opel meanwhile recorded 12,929 sales for the Combo, while the Zafira found 9,338 new owners through November. As for the Traveller and the SpaceTourer, 7,319 and 5,820 units were sold, respectively.

Speaking of Opel, its CEO believes that moving to electric-only passenger vans is a key step towards the company’s goal of becoming a fully electric carmaker by 2028.

One problem with these types of vehicles is price. The cheapest internal combustion engine version of something like the Citroen Berlingo starts from just over €23,000 ($26,000) in Europe. Meanwhile, the e-Berlingo variant is priced from €35,300 ($40,000). To be fair, government subsidies should ultimately reduce these prices by thousands of euros, but even so, top-range models like a flagship-spec e-SpaceTourer could cost you as much as a new BMW X5 or an Audi Q7.
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About the author: Sergiu Tudose
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Sergiu got to experience both American and European car "scenes" at an early age (his father drove a Ford Fiesta XR2 supermini in the 80s). After spending over 15 years at local and international auto publications, he's starting to appreciate comfort behind the wheel more than raw power and acceleration.
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