PARIS, March 3 - Stellantis intends to sustain a strong cadence of patent filings even as it pares back a number of electric vehicle initiatives under a strategic realignment, Anne Laliron, the carmaker's chief of innovation, told reporters on Tuesday.
Laliron said company leadership remains committed to fostering and protecting inventions. "(Chief Executive) Antonio Filosa is very much in favor of promoting creativity and protecting our innovations. We have very strong support for innovation and patents," she said.
She detailed the scale of the automaker's filing activity, noting that last year Stellantis lodged 1,294 patent applications in France, a figure that represents about half of the company's worldwide total for the period.
The comments come as Stellantis moves to scale back its electric vehicle programme in response to demand that has fallen short of earlier expectations. The company disclosed a 22.2 billion euro writedown last month tied to this strategic recalibration.
While the restructuring involves cancelling multiple EV projects, Laliron emphasized the group's strategic choice to keep its intellectual property efforts at an elevated level. She framed patents as an instrument both for encouraging internal creativity and for safeguarding the technology and designs the business continues to develop.
Investors and market participants assessing the company's repositioning will weigh the writedown against the decision to preserve a significant rate of patent protection. The disclosure of the 1,294 filings in France and the fact that this represents roughly half of global filings underline the priority the company places on securing its innovations at home while it adjusts its product roadmap.
Context and implications
The company is simultaneously executing a strategic reset of its EV ambitions and maintaining a high level of patent activity. Management's stated intent is to support creativity and shield innovations even as product plans are revised.