Part of Stellantis’ vision for the future is to make more money from the entire lifecycle of a car, which includes older cars whose owners do not want to pay for expensive new OEM parts. The solution, announced last year as part of the “circular economy,” is both environmentally friendly and economical for owners: selling used and rebuilt parts under the B-Parts Reuse brand.
Some parts (they come with a special Jeep and aren’t likely to be in this program).
Currently, B-Parts are being offered to dealerships, but an e-commerce site is to be started by the end of the year. The business is to provide multi-brand reused parts to both businesses and car owners.
The first dealerships to stock used parts from wrecking yards were in Europe, where the program started. The company said that the lineup reduced the need for raw materials by 80%, and carbon dioxide by half. The remanufactured parts have the same performance and warranty conditions as new parts; there are currently 13,000 parts in 37 product lines in Europe, including (but not limited to) electronics, battery packs, calipers, and clutches.
The original press release could be confusing, but Detroit News clarified it with an article incorporating results of a Q&A session. Detroit News noted that parts will be up to 70% cheaper when ordered through a pilot group of ten to fifteen Michigan dealers. The European B-Parts group has over 5 million parts sold in 160 countries; parts which are just used are sold at up to 70% off while rebuilt ones are up to 30% cheaper. The advantage over salvage yards appears to be ease of availability and discovery; the company has methods to prevent stolen parts from being resold.
It takes time to figure out how to rebuild parts, and often materials have to be engineered to rebuild them. For that reason, it can take months to add new parts to the rebuilt portfolio.
Detroit News said that the programs cover around 15% of the company’s parts worldwide; they intend to increase that to 40% by 2030. The division is “financially viable,” according to their spokesman. A new major effort will be using part of the huge Mirafiori plant to rebuild engines and transmissions, as well as entire vehicles; and to take apart vehicles for parts. They plan to have 550 people in those lines by 2025. They also plan to refit tradition cars to use electric propulsion. So far, they have not announced plans for a North American version of this hub.
Note: Allpar’s ImperialCrown added advantages to using the Mopar remanufactured parts, which might also eventually apply to the new lines. He wrote, “Mopar’s warranty on remanufactured powertrain components is superior to many aftermarket suppliers, and makes a solid statement about the level of quality designed into each remanufactured powertrain component. …Parts and labor are covered when original installations and warranty repairs are performed by an authorized [dealership, and] if the part is found to be defective, Mopar will reimburse the installer [for their time]…”
