It’s been about 12 busy months Stellarwith the automaker reversing a number of decisions made during the reign of its former CEO Carlos Tavares.
Since leaving at the end of 2024, the French-Italian-American automaker has reintroduced V8 Hemi engines to the Ram 1500 lineup, canceled its Chrysler and Jeep plug-in hybrids and discontinued the long-delayed electric version of the Ram 1500 pickup.
In Europe, a mild hybrid powertrain has been integrated into the current generation of the Fiat 500, which was originally designed as a purely electric model.
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Now the automaker has quietly reintroduced some diesel engine options to its extensive European lineup.
Analysis of Reuters has announced that diesel engines have returned to the Peugeot 308 and DS 4 small cars as well as the Opel Combo, Peugeot Rifter and Citroen Berlingo van. In addition, a diesel option for the van-based Opel Zafira people carrier was launched.
In a statement, Stellantis said: “We have decided to retain diesel engines in our product portfolio and – in some cases – expand our powertrain offerings. At Stellantis we want to generate growth, so we are focused on customer demand.”
The automaker also confirmed “in response to continued customer demand” that it would continue to produce diesel versions of the Alfa Romeo Tonale and Stelvio SUVs, as well as the Giulia sedan and DS 7 SUV.
Not long ago, diesel engines were Europe’s powertrain of choice, but Volkswagen’s Dieselgate emissions test scandal, which first came to public attention in late 2015, ushered in a period of rapid decline for oil burners.
| Fuel type | Share 2015 | Share 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Diesel | 51.6% | 8.9% |
| petrol | 43.7% | 26.6% |
| Hybrid | 1.7% | 34.5% |
| Others (e.g. LPG, E85) | 1.6% | 3.3% |
| Electric | 1.4% | 17.4% |
| Plug-in hybrid | – | 9.4% |
The news agency cites figures from CarGurus showing the number of diesel models in the UK fell from 167 in 2020 to 57 last year. Of these, only four came from Stellantis, while the brands that now make up Stellantis offered 26 diesel models in 2020.
It will be interesting to see how much growth Stellantis can generate by reintroducing diesel options to its offering, but it is a market segment where Chinese manufacturers have no passenger car offerings and much of their efforts are focused on pure electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and extended-range electric vehicles.
MORE: Stellantis posts a loss of A$35 billion after a failed EV push, with shares down 24 percent
