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⚡This Week’s Big Charge
💡 Stellantis Blames $26.34 Billion Loss On EVs. The Reality Is More Complex
Five years after Fiat Chrysler and France’s PSA Group tied the knot, it’s hard to say what’s going right in the marriage.
Ostensibly, Stellantis—a conglomerate of 14 auto brands that includes Jeep, Ram, Dodge, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Peugeot and Citroën—was formed to create an international automaking giant with unprecedented scale.
The vision was clear: by sharing global platforms and technology, and reducing redundant costs, they'd have the vast capital and know-how to lead the way on electric vehicles, software-driven mobility and autonomous cars.
This idea makes sense, just as it did when the late FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne pitched the 1.0 vision for such a company more than a decade ago. But with a $26 billion net loss in 2025, the company's first, it’s fair to say that scale alone isn’t some silver bullet for the auto industry’s problems.
Antonio Filosa, Stellantis’ CEO, was quick to blame that loss on “over-estimating the pace of the energy transition”—meaning, the costs of dialing back plans to build EVs now that current trends show they won’t be adopted as quickly as the industry projected. Filosa called this a “reset [of] our business around our customers’ freedom to choose."
Filosa added: “In the second half of the year, we began to see initial, positive signs of progress with the early results of our drive to improve quality, strong execution of the launches of our new product wave and a return to top-line growth. In 2026, our focus will be on continuing to close the execution gaps of the past, adding further momentum to our return to profitable growth.”
Let’s unpack what this means.
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🛻 What We Know About Stellantis’ Annual Loss:
Stellantis said two-thirds of that $26 billion charge is tied to canceled platforms and cars, including the Jeep Wrangler 4xe (previously America’s best-selling plug-in hybrid) and an upcoming all-electric Ram truck.
The party line is “giving customers the freedom to choose the products they want,” whether they're gas cars, hybrids, EVs or extended-range EVs.
Right now, Stellantis sells the Dodge Charger EV, Jeep Wagoneer S and Fiat 500e in North America; the first two have struggled with middling reviews and poor sales.
The company is stepping away from a planned EV supply chain buildup and bringing back the legendary Hemi V8, which should be profitable from the start.
More affordable new gas models should also be coming across the portfolio. Leading the way: the new Jeep Cherokee, now hybrid-only.
While much of this EV walkback seems to be North America-specific, sales are down in Europe as well. South America remains its most profitable region.
Stellantis called these moves “a decisive reset” that will lead to profitable growth again in 2026.
Maybe Stellantis had no choice but to hit reverse on EVs. After all, it has no $7,500 tax credit to boost U.S. sales, and it’s no longer under the regulatory gun to electrify here.
But while the move was the most costly item on the balance sheet, in reality, the uncomfortable truth is that Stellantis’ problems run deeper—and there’s no easy way to solve them.
📊 Go Deeper:
Other automakers also discovered that the EV reset button is expensive: Ford’s EV write-downs stood at at $19.5 billion, with General Motors at $6 billion and Honda at $1.7 billion.
But compared to the other two U.S. automakers, Stellantis has the least to show for it.
GM was the no. 2 EV seller behind Tesla in 2025 and has a huge electric lineup; Ford axed the Lightning but is building a (hopefully profitable) new EV platform. In the U.S., at least, Stellantis is doing far less.
Stellantis' problems persisted long before the U-Turn on EVs.
According to multiple accounts, the automaker has been plagued by high prices, sinking market share, an overly aggressive focus on its European brands, poor dealer relations, a culture breakdown across its various divisions (Dodge and Peugeot are very different operations!), massive recall costs and a still-uncertain future for many brands. (Chrysler, anyone?)
Arguably, its biggest problem was the first item. Stellantis hiked prices during the pandemic and never really clawed back the market share it lost. Its founding CEO, Carlos Tavares, was ousted in 2024.
To top it off, Stellantis isn’t really a leader on any of the future technologies it was formed to deliver.
It’s not only walking back EVs, but also shelving its more advanced autonomy efforts and openly struggling to develop next-gen software without outside help.
On the plus side: the company inked a partnership with Nvidia, Uber and Foxconn for AVs last year, so we’ll see.
And Stellantis may now lean more on its Chinese partner Leapmotor for EV tech in Europe.
🧠 My Take:
Perhaps Stellantis can carve a solid path forward for now by focusing on internal combustion. And traditional, sometimes EV-averse customers (and dealers) seem excited again.
But there are more existential questions: What is Stellantis? Why does it exist? Is it using that vaunted scale to deliver the future, or is it just a mess of brands?
Take Chrysler, a brand that’s been on life support as long as I’ve covered this industry. Why not pull the plug? How much does Chrysler matter when high-tech Chinese automakers like BYD are knocking on North America’s door?
Maybe doubling down on Hemi engines and gas power works in an American market with no fuel economy rules. But what if they come back, post-Trump? How is Stellantis getting ready for the future?
Its answer to sagging European sales is even more archaic: it’s bringing back diesels. And there’s still no clear path for Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Lancia… the list goes on.
It may be easy for Stellantis to blame its predicament solely on EVs, for now. But the world is changing. And it’s hard to say which of these problems must be fixed first before Stellantis can lay claim to the long-term future of cars.
📰 More Stories That Matter
Two months after netting our Breakthrough EV of the Year Award, my former outlet exclusively reported that the more affordable small-battery Nissan Leaf won’t come to the U.S. after all. Bummer. [InsideEVs]
Hyundai Motor Group will reportedly make a multibillion-dollar investment in South Korea, specifically for robotics, AI data centers and hydrogen. [Reuters]
A look at whether the Trump administration's fuel economy standards rollback will be economically viable. [Heatmap News]
A deep dive into why Chinese EVs are so cheap to make and sell compared to Western competitors. [Rhodium Group]
📡 On My Radar
Tesla's latest executive departure is a big one: the vehicle program manager for the Cybercab. What does that mean for the autonomous taxi program? [Electrek]
Lucid Motors just slashed 12% of its workforce as it seeks profitability this year with the Gravity SUV and more affordable models soon. Can it cross the "valley of death” it's in now? [TechCrunch]
Rivian expects a big jump in service demand when the R2 launches. Is its service network ready? [InsideEVs]
Uber will acquire parking reservation platform SpotHero and launch a new division aimed at commercializing autonomy. I'm excited to see where that goes. [JustAuto]
Another study shows that plug-in hybrids use more gasoline and less electricity than many automakers claim. Time to pull the plug? [TechCrunch]
🔌 Charging News
Startup L-Charge has a mobile EV recharging roadside assistance truck, and I kind of love this idea. [L-Charge]
Toyota and Treehouse unveiled a new home installation process for Level 2 AC charging. [Toyota]
The downsides to living with Level 1 (wall charging) only, from an editor who knows the EV space as well as anyone. [InsideEVs]
Ford Pro will roll out specialized commercial fleet charging with ChargePoint in Europe. [Ford Authority]
Rivian drivers will be able to participate in passive and active managed utility charging programs via EnergyHub. [Utility Dive]
BYD's second-generation megawatt Flash Charging—the five-minute EV charging system—is beginning to spread across China. [CnEVPost]
🔋 Battery Industry News
After questions arose about its alleged first-ever production solid-state battery, Finnish startup Donut Lab says it has receipts. [The Verge]
Used EV batteries are finding a new purpose: bolstering the Texas electric grid. [Texas Tribune]
Why the growth of EV charging companies may also cause a more fragmented user experience, and less inherent compatibility for automakers. [Matthew Lichtash via LinkedIn]
Google will pay next-generation battery developer Form Energy roughly $1 billion for a sprawling, 30-gigawatt-hour energy system powering a Minnesota data center. [The Information]
A Korean research team says it’s solved the biggest technical hurdle standing between today’s EVs and a 12-minute charge: dendrites. [Digital Trends]
A new Colorado bill would require manufacturers to either handle the recycling of old EV batteries—or find someone to do it for them. [BGR]
🤖 Autonomy News
Waymo is now operating in 10 cities, announcing it’s ready for rides in Orlando, Dallas, Houston, and my hometown of San Antonio. [Axios]
Amazon-owned Zoox cabs are testing in Columbus. I’m eager to see how they handle that level of winter. [Columbus Dispatch]
My former colleague Suvrat Kothari explains why Uber has so many partners—basically all of them?—in the AV taxi race. [InsideEVs]
An op-ed explaining why America needs autonomous trucks. [Kodiak]
Can AVs be hijacked by something as simple as a text sign? [The Drive]
Tesla “did nothing” in 2025 to get permits for AV test driving in California, despite saying a Robotaxi service launch there is months away. [Reuters]
I’m a few weeks late on this, but here’s new data showing the pricing strategies of the major AV taxi companies. Tesla undercuts them all. [Obi]
🧠 AI News
Humanoid home robots are coming soon. But do we really want them? [The Conversation]
Inside the chaos, and occasional bizarre asks from up top, at Elon Musk's xAI as it nears a merger with SpaceX. [Business Insider]
“Pure fantasy thinking.” The founder of iRobot has stern words for Musk's humanoid robot dreams. [Fortune]
AI is rewriting search engine rules for dealers. [Car Dealership Guy]
U.K. self-driving tech company Wayve just raised $1.2 billion in a series D round, with investors that include Microsoft, Uber and Nissan. [Wall Street Journal]
📤 Spread the Charge
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💡 Did You Know?
In the 2000s, Chrysler had a unit called ENVI devoted to making EVs. It even had several prototypes running, including a mini-Viper-esque sports car. But it was disbanded amid the merger with Fiat.
Until next time,
—Patrick George