Stellantis is recording extensive charges of approximately €22.2 billion, largely related to its electric vehicle business. According to the new strategy outlined by CEO Antonio Filosa, the company aims to become a ‘beacon of freedom of choice’ by offering more internal-combustion and hybrid vehicles.

Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa has been working since his appointment in June 2025 to scale back the ambitious electric vehicle targets set by his predecessor, Carlos Tavares. As part of this effort, he has cancelled plans for products that the company deemed unable to achieve profitable volumes.

These include the previously planned battery-electric version of the Ram 1500 pickup truck. According to Stellantis, customer demand and changes in US regulations do not support such vehicles. That is likely due to factors such as the expiry of the $7,500 tax credit at the end of September and the relaxed emissions rules for internal combustion engines introduced by the Trump administration.

New strategic plan in May

As a result, Stellantis is realigning its business model and plans to announce a new strategic plan in May. It is already clear that the company will focus exclusively on customer demand in electric mobility. Additionally, in a separate move, it is divesting its stake in the battery joint venture NextStar Energy with LG Energy Solution.

Beyond this, the group, which includes 14 brands such as Chrysler, Citroën, Dodge, Fiat, Opel, Peugeot, and RAM, aims to become a ‘beacon for freedom of choice,’ particularly ‘those customers whose lifestyles and working requirements make the Company’s growing range of hybrid and advanced internal combustion engine vehicles the right solution for them,’ Stellantis said.

€22.2 billion of impairments

In preparation for this realignment, Stellantis is recording impairments totalling approximately €22.2 billion; “The charges announced today largely reflect the cost of over-estimating the pace of the energy transition that distanced us from many car buyers’ real-world needs, means and desires,” said Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa. “They also reflect the impact of previous poor operational execution, the effects of which are being progressively addressed by our new team.”

The total of €22.2 billion includes €14.7 billion for realigning product plans to reflect customer preferences and new US emissions regulations. That is primarily due to significantly reduced expectations for battery-electric vehicle products. Within these €14.7 billion, there are impairments of €2.9 billion on cancelled products and €6.0 billion in platform write-downs, mainly due to sharply reduced volume and profitability expectations.

Additionally, it includes expected cash outflows of around €5.8 billion over the next four years, relating to both cancelled products and other ongoing BEV products whose sales volumes are now expected to fall significantly short of previous forecasts.

A further €2.1 billion is associated with the restructuring of the electric vehicle supply chain. This includes cash outflows of approximately €0.7 billion expected over the next four years, linked to measures to rationalise battery production capacities.

The remaining €5.4 billion arises from other changes in the company’s operations. This includes €4.1 billion due to a revised estimate of contractual warranty provisions, as well as other expenses totalling €1.3 billion. These are primarily related to restructuring costs associated with previously announced job reductions across wider Europe.

Aping the competition

The announcement of the impairments sent shockwaves through the stock market: Stellantis shares plunged by 25%, having already been under pressure. Since the beginning of 2025, the stock has lost 50% of its value and a whopping 70% since its highest level in March 2024. The group is currently valued at just €17.5 billion on the stock market.

The sharply negative investor reaction is also due to Stellantis now expecting a loss of between 19 and 21 billion euros in the second half of 2025. Additionally, Stellantis has announced that it will not pay a dividend for 2025.

With its realignment and significant write-downs in the EV business, Stellantis is following the example of Ford and General Motors. In December, Ford announced impairments totalling $19.5 billion, primarily due to the realignment of its EV business.

Meanwhile, General Motors announced a $6 billion write-down in January, less than three months after it had written off $1.6 billion in October. This was mainly due to dampened demand expectations for electric vehicles following the phase-out of EV incentives in the US.

Self-fulfilling prophecy

Like the CEOs of big tech, the leaders of North America’s three leading car manufacturers have recently gathered around Trump’s presidential desk, like lapdogs, to say yes and amen to the President’s whims.

It is clear that the sudden fall of the former Stellantis big boss, Carlos Tavares, has had a devastating influence on the company. The Stellantis board has clearly chosen to go an entirely different path. In the movement, the influence of what could be seen as ‘the French arm’ of the company has completely waned.

With the appointment of Filosa and the management changes he has already implemented since his arrival, Stellantis has become an Italian-American company with an even stronger dependence on the North American market. This market has veered completely to its old form again, thanks to Trump, and the American car companies were actually trampling each other to comply as much as possible with the new boss in the White House.

Fortunately, they still had the decency to avoid appearing (yet) in a MAGA Trump/Vance T-shirt like the boss of the biggest car company in the world, Akio Toyoda, did on its own Suzuka circuit in Japan.

Meanwhile, with its new policy, Stellantis is creating its self-fulfilling prophecy. In an effort to reduce the damage Tavares has also caused the company in the past, the new management has completely changed its objectives. The new management is clearly American-biased, leaving the European arm on its own.

Recently, Filosa announced a $13 billion investment plan for the next four years in the U.S., but plans for Europe still need to be finalized. To justify this costly hesitation, Filosa aims at the European Commission, seeking more clarity, while omitting that car manufacturers have put so much lobbying pressure on the Commission that they have been watering down their initially very clear project on the future of European mobility and transport. We’re anxious to see what will come next.