Back in October 2019, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced a merger with the French Groupe PSA, makers of the Peugeot, Citroen, and luxury DS brands, as well as the Opel and Vauxhall brands that were obtained from General Motors. These brands will join forces with FCA's brands, which include Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Maserati, and Lancia.

When automakers merge, they generally come up with a fresh name for the newly created business entity. FCA and PSA have just announced that the resulting name of their new merger will be Stellantis. The name is rooted in the Latin verb "stello," which means "to brighten with stars."

The company says the name was chosen because it describes the alignment of several storied automotive brands and company cultures, which will merge together to become a leader in the next era of mobility while preserving the value of its original parts. Its Latin origins signify the rich history of the founding companies while the nod to astronomy captures the spirit of optimism, energy, and renewal.

The Stellantis name will only be used at a Group level to describe the corporate brand. FCA and PSA began the process of creating this new name soon after the merger was announced and the next step of the process will involve creating a new logo. The existing logos of the Stellantis Group's constituent brands will remain the same.

The completion of the 50:50 merger is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2021 but is still subject to closing conditions such as approval by shareholders. There have still been no official confirmations of how the FCA and PSA brands will work together moving forward. It will be interesting to see if any of the PSA brands, none of which are currently sold in the US, could replace or be added alongside any of FCA's brands. We wouldn't mind seeing one of FCA's aging products like the Fiat 500X be replaced with a cool new Peugeot model.