A five-year shift that’s making Stellantis’ aftersales faster, smarter and even more flexible

Stellantis is about midway through a five-year transformation of its global service parts and aftersales supply chain – a strategic overhaul aimed at shaking loose traditional convention in favour of a faster, more flexible model. The move comes amid mounting global supply chain volatility and rising customer expectations for rapid, reliable service, prompting Stellantis to reengineer logistics into a leaner engine able to pivot with market shifts and guarantee parts availability under any condition.

James Parker Jr., global senior vice-president of supply chain, for parts and service at Stellantis, likens the shift to steering “a slow battleship” into a more agile “frigate.” Speaking on the main stage at the 25th Automotive Logistics & Supply Chain Global conference – and later, on Automotive Logistics’ Red Sofa – Parker outlines the five-year mission of modernisation that injects agility at every level of the network.

“Our goal [is] to take our supply chain from a slow battleship to a smaller frigate and make it more flexible to service when sales go up or down,” he says. Currently operating with roughly half the cost base fixed, “when sales go up or down, we really can’t take away some of the fixed costs. So, we want to get more to the variable side.” That has meant scrutinising the entire network: “Do we have our parts distribution centres in the right location? Are we consolidated in the right way? Are we taking as much cost as we could out of the supply chain?” Parker poses.In his global role, Parker oversees regions that vary in market maturity and aftersales dynamics, enabling a vision to bring greater consistency to how the company balances cost, flexibility and customer responsiveness worldwide. “Right now, our supply chain is not very flexible,” he says, describing a model built around fixed delivery routes and high structural costs. “We want to get more scalability. We want to take fixed costs and move those to variable costs.”

In practice, that means challenging partners to deliver multiple solutions instead of one-size-fits-all services. “We want canned solutions that give us flexibility for the independent aftermarket, for OE, and for any business we’re going to do moving forward,” Parker explains.

At approximately the midpoint of its transformation roadmap, Stellantis has streamlined its footprint and begun consolidating operations. A centrepiece of this strategy is a new “megahub” parts distribution centre under development in Metro Detroit, which “over the next 18 months will consolidate nine locations and bring us a lot of transportation savings,” Parker says.

Slated to open in 2027, the Detroit megahub will feature advanced automation – including an AutoStore robotic storage and retrieval system – to boost productivity. Parker expects it to set a new benchmark for efficiency and service in North America, eliminating redundant shuttling and local deliveries to create a “faster, smarter and more reliable” service parts network.

Consolidation, however, isn’t limited to the US. Parker says each region offers lessons for Stellantis’ aftersales operations. “I think there’s something to be learned from every region and the way [we] do business,” he says. South America, for instance, has a robust independent aftermarket “probably on par with its OE business.” North America, by contrast, “is primarily driven by OE and we need to get more on the aftermarket side.” Europe’s aftermarket “is growing much faster… It’s much more mature,” offering a model Stellantis can learn from.

That maturity is reflected in investments made in the UK. For example, the company recently opened a 60,000 sq.m parts distribution centre in Ellesmere Port to bring ten Stellantis brands’ service parts under one roof and feed nearly 1,000 dealers via 19 regional hubs.

Emphasising the need for greater network agility globally, Parker notes the independent aftermarket alone represents a “multi-billion industry globally, with a large percent contributor coming from North America” and is where “the growth is.”

“If we’re not gearing ourselves to that business and trying to change our structure to accommodate it, then we’re probably going to suffer in the end,” he says.

Getting smarter with automation and AI

A core pillar of Parker’s plan to boost flexibility is technology – especially warehouse automation and data-driven planning. “I want to continue to gain flexibility with automation, because automation takes away the need for the fixed cost of location space,” he says.

Stellantis has already made progress on this front. “We have made significant reductions to warehouse space in North America by utilising automation. And that’s a good thing for us,” Parker notes.

In one parts depot, a large percentage of all throughput is now handled automatically. Previously, warehouse staff could spend much of their day walking the 500,000 sq.m floor to pick parts. Now, Parker explains, “we have them in one place, with one station performing the job,” while automation brings the goods to the person, “which gives us a bunch of efficiency and allows us to reduce our overall footprint and labour costs”.

Beyond the physical flow of parts, Stellantis is also betting on AI to transform demand forecasting and inventory management. “To me, that’s the biggest thing that we’re going to do moving forward in our supply chain – connect all the parts of our company” using AI. He argues that sales, service and supply chain data need to be tightly linked. “Everything that happens in sales needs to be accounted for in the supply chain. If it’s not, you get disruptions – backorders, repair delays, and ultimately, unhappy customers,” he says.

By harnessing predictive analytics, Parker wants to anticipate what parts will fail or experience quality issues before they cause a stockout at a dealership. “If we can tie all those things together through AI and have more predictive analysis on what’s going to fail on a car… when something does happen, we can account for it in our supply chain and add lead time to suppliers to get the material prior to it being needed at a dealership,” Parker explains.

Practically, that means shifting from static planning cycles to a more dynamic, just-in-time approach. “Today our systems pretty much do demand planning on a 30-day or quarterly basis… We want to move to more daily demand, weekly demand, to be more just-in-time as opposed to pushing inventory all the time,” he says. Smarter forecasting could also reduce a significant amount of parts inventory that currently becomes obsolete for the company each year, freeing up working capital.

Crucially, these tech investments align with Parker’s focus on customer service. Better forecasting means fewer backorders and faster repairs, resulting in happier customers. Stellantis is also developing real-time visibility tools across its logistics network to keep dealers and drivers informed. “We should be able to tell a customer, part by part, where their parts are – similar to top-tier delivery companies,” Parker says, acknowledging that today the company still relies on estimated delivery times. Achieving parcel-level tracking for service parts will require “some changes in our system and in our process,” but Parker says “we’ll be able to come up with a solution that puts us on the cutting edge” of delivery visibility.

It may not match a top-tier delivery experience right away, he adds; “but over time we’ll get there”.

Rethinking delivery models

Perhaps the most visible change to Stellantis’ aftersales logistics transformation is how parts reach dealers and customers. Traditionally, like many legacy OEMs, Stellantis ran a fixed “daily drop” distribution model: part orders were collected during the day, loaded onto dedicated trucks in the evening, and delivered once every 24 hours to each dealership. While this model has been consistent, it’s not especially responsive to fast-changing demand, particularly as independent repair shops and e-commerce buyers increasingly expect multiple deliveries per day.

Parker acknowledges that this rhythm needs to change. “Generally, we’ve done it once a day via dedicated delivery service, and now we want to be more dynamic,” he says.

One approach Stellantis is using to confront this challenge is expanding pickup options for dealers near parts distribution centres or regional hubs. “Pickup options are always great when dealers are in proximity of our locations, because now we don’t have to pay for transportation,” Parker notes, “and they get the flexibility of being able to come multiple times a day whenever they want.” This can shave a day off urgent orders while cutting cost.

The ideas behind Stellantis’ aftersales transformation were also explored when Parker joined the Automotive Logistics Red Sofa. Switch formats and watch the full interview for a different lens on the conversation. 

At the same time, Parker is working with carrier partners to move beyond fixed daily “milk runs” toward higher-frequency, on-demand routes. “We’re going back to our carriers and having honest conversations about redesigning the traditional model and coming up with a model that’s more flexible,” he says. Carriers, in his view, “should have models that offer delivery service for [independent aftermarket] and then for OE” – essentially different tiers of service for different needs.

“We’re pursuing a hybrid model that continues to serve wholesale dealers with high-volume, heavy parts, while also supporting the independent aftermarket with medium and smaller components. Customers expect these parts to be available multiple times throughout the day,” Parker explains. In practice, that could mean blending van routes, bike couriers or even ride-share vehicles into the network for smaller, time-sensitive shipments, while keeping full truckloads for bulk replenishment.

None of this is easy, he admits; “it’s very complicated” to introduce dynamic routing in a system built on fixed schedules and dedicated fleets. But the reality, he says, is that speed and flexibility have become the new benchmarks in aftersales. Dealers, repair centres and customers all expect faster turnarounds.

“If you want to grow in your aftersales network, you have to be able to deliver at will,” Parker says.

Partnering for agility and shared innovation

Stellantis is placing greater emphasis on collaboration with logistics providers and suppliers as it advances its aftersales transformation. Parker emphasises that the company is seeking long-term partners over transactional relationships.

“The more that we can develop that business partnership and relationship where it’s not just a transaction, I think that we can continue to move in the right direction,” he says. He adds that partners should play an active role in shaping solutions. “Any business partner that you have needs to understand your scope and scale and what you want to do in the future as a company, because then they can tailor a solution to you,” he explains.

This philosophy echoes a broader industry trend away from traditional procurement models toward deeper, data-based, knowledge-sharing partnerships between OEMs and partners. Industry executives, including DSV’s CEO, Frank Sobotka, who joined Parker onstage at Automotive Logistics & Supply Chain Global, also observe that purely transactional approaches are losing relevance as market volatility increases, with many providers now acting as “co-designers” of solutions alongside OEMs.

One of Stellantis’ key focus areas within this collaboration strategy is increasing flexibility by converting fixed costs into variable ones through outsourcing and new service models. “For me, the biggest thing with any partner is that you change fixed cost to variable cost,” Parker shares during the panel with Sobotka. If logistics partners can adjust capacity with demand, he says, Stellantis can reduce fixed overhead while maintaining service continuity.

Flexibility, Parker stresses, must be “a real topic, not just a buzzword.” Given that volumes and product mix in aftersales can fluctuate sharply – due to factors such as seasonal demand or sudden recalls – the supply chain must be able to scale quickly up or down. Achieving that level of responsiveness, he says, requires partners that are deeply integrated into the network and willing to share both risks and rewards through dynamic pricing and capacity models.

In parallel, Stellantis is engaging with technology partners to future-proof its network. Parker and his team have been meeting with existing and potential suppliers in fields such as AI, automation and IT systems. “We’re talking to our providers that exist today and we’re talking to other providers that don’t work with the company,” he says. The goal is to find those who have “the best AI technology in the industry, who has the best hybrid system, [and] who has the best capability for traceability”.

Openness and transparency across the supply chain, Parker believes, will enable a more responsive network that allows for maximum flexibility. “Rather than you going to your partner saying ‘hey, we need X,’ they should come to you and say ‘hey, we can offer this value or improve that,’” he explains. The endgame is a network of suppliers and logistics firms operating almost as an extension of Stellantis – sharing data, anticipating needs and flexibly adjusting to whatever the market throws their way.

Global consistency, local excellence

Following the merger that created Stellantis in 2021 – uniting Fiat Chrysler, Peugeot, Citroën, Opel, and others – the company inherited a network of legacy systems and processes across its parts and aftersales supply chain. Now one of the world’s largest automakers, Stellantis is working to bring order to that complexity through a global standardisation drive aimed at balancing consistency with local execution.

“We have to converge better,” he says of the company’s multi-brand and multi-region network. “When you’re trying to combine multiple companies and multiple systems, it’s very difficult – one part number for one company, another for another, and multiple suppliers… But once you converge, you have an opportunity to save costs. And that’s what we’re doing.”

Stellantis’ transformation strategy involves unifying demand planning systems, transportation management and warehouse management software under a single digital framework, across regions. Once complete, Parker believes, it will give Stellantis a structural advantage globally. “When the company operates in the same way globally, it’s going to give us real efficiency,” he says.

Consistency, however, is not an end in itself. A harmonised aftersales network also enables a more reliable customer experience, ensuring parts availability and faster service regardless of geography. For Parker, that customer focus is the true measure of success. Every investment, whether in automation, AI or last-mile flexibility, is ultimately about minimising downtime across the network. “If you wait until the end and you’re reactive, it adds time to the repair,” he notes. “That will frustrate customers.”

As Parker’s five-year transformation continues, Stellantis is reshaping its aftersales network around efficiency, flexibility and customer responsiveness. The focus is on linking operational improvements directly to service outcomes, ensuring that gains in automation, consolidation and forecasting translate into faster repairs and fewer backorders. “Cost isn’t just an expense; it’s an investment in the customer experience,” as one industry peer remarks at the Automotive Logistics conference – a view Parker’s approach reflects. “The market is going to drive it [too],” Parker says, noting that those who don’t adapt will be left behind as service expectations rise.

Ultimately, success will rest on a benchmark of delivering the right part, at the right time, at the right cost. Achieving that consistently, worldwide, will define the next chapter of Stellantis’ aftersales evolution, and mark its transformation from a slow-moving battleship into a fast, data-driven fleet built for the future.