Stellantis, the European carmaker behind Vauxhall, Citroën and Fiat, suffered a €22 billion loss after admitting it had overestimated the pace of electric vehicle adoption and reversed its push towards an all-electric future.
The Franco-Italian car group said the strategic turnaround would result in future losses, write-downs and cancellation costs of 22 billion euros related to electric models that will no longer be brought to market. About 6.5 billion euros of this burden is attributable to the outflow of cash from the company.
The announcement sparked a sharp market reaction, with Stellantis shares briefly suspended before plunging more than 20 percent after trading resumed. By midmorning, the shares in London had fallen 21 percent to 6.40 euros, their lowest level in five years. The company also confirmed that it would cancel its dividend.
Stellantis said its future strategy will now be driven by “demand, not command,” signaling a clear move away from regulatory electrification targets toward customer preferences. The move also falls in line with a broader shift in tone in the U.S. market under President Donald Trump, where automakers are increasingly moving back to internal combustion engines.
The group, which was formed from the merger of Peugeot-Citroën, Fiat-Chrysler and Opel-Vauxhall, has faced internal tensions over strategy in recent years. Those divisions culminated in the departure of former CEO Carlos Tavares 15 months ago. His successor Antonio Filosa has now given a blunt assessment of the approach so far.
In announcing the charges, Filosa said Stellantis would prioritize new gasoline and hybrid models after misjudging the speed of the energy transition and losing touch with customers’ real needs.
“The charges announced today largely reflect the costs of overestimating the pace of the energy transition,” Filosa said. “This misjudgment distanced us from the needs, resources and preferences of many car buyers and was compounded by poor operational execution.”
As part of the realignment, Stellantis will invest $13 billion over the next four years to expand production in the United States, create more than 5,000 jobs and increase capacity utilization at its American plants. Iconic gasoline models will make a comeback, including the HEMI V8 engine for the Ram 1500 pickup and the return of the Jeep Cherokee, a gasoline bestseller that was discontinued three years ago.
The company also discontinued the Ram 1500 REV, an all-electric pickup truck that was scheduled to go into production later this year, citing the need to adjust product plans to customer demand and changes in U.S. regulations.
In a sharp criticism of its previous management structure, Stellantis said it would re-empower regional teams and give them more autonomy to make decisions based on local market knowledge rather than centralized mandates.
Although its manufacturing footprint in the UK has shrunk significantly, Stellantis remains owner of the Vauxhall brand, with limited electric van production continuing at Ellesmere Port.
The move mirrors similar retreats by Ford and General Motors and underscores a broader reassessment by Western automakers as demand for electric vehicles weakens and political support for aggressive electrification weakens. Stellantis will report its full-year 2025 results on February 26.
