Stellantis announces partnership with Amazon at CES

Stellantis revealed yesterday at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas (USA) - via its Chief Executive Officer, the Portuguese Carlos Tavares - that it has entered into a partnership with the tech giant Amazon.

This agreement follows on from what was presented at Stellantis Software Day (December 2021), when the company introduced STLA SmartCockpit - a new technology platform designed to plug into occupants’ digital lives, bringing digital personalisation to the cabin.

Against that backdrop, the newly announced collaboration with Amazon will focus on software solutions for this technology platform, delivered through AI (artificial intelligence)-driven applications for navigation services, entertainment, Alexa voice assistance, vehicle maintenance, e-commerce and payment services.

It will also include integration with Amazon’s key security and smart home services, enabling customers to monitor and manage their homes directly from the vehicle - or, alternatively, to manage the vehicle from home using Alexa-connected devices or the Alexa app on their smartphones.

These new developments are expected to start arriving across models from Stellantis’ 14 automotive brands from 2024.

Stellantis in the cloud

Under this multi-year agreement, Stellantis has, as expected, selected AWS Cloud (Amazon Web Services) for its in-vehicle platforms, which will lead to the joint development with Amazon of cloud-based infrastructure dedicated to automotive platforms.

There are also plans to migrate the data flows generated by its vehicles into a Data Mesh in the cloud. By using AWS machine learning capabilities, Stellantis aims to speed up the commercialisation of new digital products, supporting the desired personalisation of services and also enabling preventive maintenance operations.

Stellantis as a technology company

The automotive industry is moving through a period of rapid transformation, and we have seen the leading players argue that they do not want to be viewed (only) as car manufacturers, but rather as technology companies - or, as we have seen with the Volkswagen Group, a software-based mobility company.

Stellantis is no exception: it also wants to be recognised as a technology company.

To quicken that shift, it had already announced at Stellantis Software Day the creation of a “Software Academy” to build and strengthen employees’ skills. Now, together with AWS, it intends to roll out a new global training programme called “Agile-Auto Software & Data Academy” (bringing together software, data and cloud technology).

The goal is also to train more than 5000 developers and engineers in AWS Cloud-related technologies by 2024.

Amazon adds electric Ram ProMaster vans to its fleet

The Stellantis–Amazon agreement will also result in the supply of 100% electric Ram ProMaster vans (the North American version of the Fiat Ducato) for last mile delivery services, aligning with Amazon’s objective of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.

Amazon will, in effect, be the first business customer for the electric ProMaster version, which is due to launch in North America in 2023. The vehicles destined for Amazon will have unique (unspecified) features integrated, tailored to its requirements for this type of last mile delivery work.

No specific figure was given for how many vehicles will be delivered under this agreement, but the statement notes that “Stellantis and Amazon will put, every year, thousands of ProMaster BEVs (battery electric vehicles) on the roads.”