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Stellantis shares plunged on Friday after it warned of a €22bn charge and offloaded a stake in its Canadian battery joint venture in a scaling back of its push into electric vehicles.
The latest writedown will bring the total cost of the reversal in EV ambitions to nearly $50bn for the three Detroit carmakers, including Ford and GM, as they wrestle with changing climate policies both in the US and Europe.
Shares in Stellantis fell 14 per cent at the open in Milan before trading was briefly halted, and continued sinking as much as 23 per cent to €6.25.
The European group, which owns the Peugeot, Fiat and Jeep brands, has been one of the hardest hit by the slower than expected electric transition among consumers.
It will be forced to unwind heavy investments that were made under former boss Carlos Tavares, who set a goal in 2022 to sell all EVs in Europe by 2030. It also aimed to sell 50 per cent EVs in the US where sales are still predominantly petrol and hybrid models.
Stellantis on Friday said a “reset” of its business would lead to the €22.2bn charge in the second half of its 2025 financial year, and said it would not pay a dividend in 2026. The company also disclosed a cash payment to suppliers of €6.5bn over the next four years for the shift in EV policy.
About €15bn of the charge was attributed to cancelling products and impairments on its vehicle platforms.
“The charges announced today largely reflect the cost of overestimating the pace of the energy transition that distanced us from many car buyers’ real-world needs, means and desires,” said Stellantis chief executive Antonio Filosa.
As a result of the charges, Stellantis forecast a net loss of up to €21bn for the second half, compared with a profit of €100mn a year earlier, on revenue of up to €80bn, which would be a rise of 11 per cent year on year.
Stellantis also sold its 49 per cent equity stake in its battery joint venture in Canada with NextStar Energy for €700m to South Korea’s LG Energy Solution.
Analysts had long anticipated the group to follow with a writedown after Ford announced a $19.5bn charge, while GM recently disclosed two separate charges totalling $7.6bn.
While sales of EVs surged to a record last year in Europe, demand collapsed in the US after the Trump administration withdrew a $7,500 consumer tax credit. The US government is seeking to further roll back regulations aimed at curbing car emissions, while Brussels recently proposed loosening its 2035 ban on petrol vehicles.
Under Filosa, the group has abandoned plug-in hybrids and reintroduced the popular 5.7-litre “Hemi” V8 engine in the Ram 1500 pick-up truck and other models such as the Jeep Cherokee that was discontinued under Tavares.
Stellantis is seeking to rebuild its US market share that was lost after overpricing its vehicles in the wake of the pandemic. Following the revival of some of the popular models, the company said on Friday that fourth-quarter shipments in North America rose 43 per cent from a year ago to 422,000 units.
However, the group is still struggling with sluggish demand in Europe, with shipments falling 4 per cent during the quarter to 667,000 units.
