Stellantis Stumbles In A Staggering EV Retreat

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Stellantis announced that it is taking a $26 billion hit associated with backtracking on EVs. The vast majority of the write-down is specific to North America, where Stellantis has essentially given up on plug-in vehicles. EV production is being replaced with a return of ICE powertrains, including the “Hemi.”

This retreat comes in addition to selling off its stake in the NextStar battery JV in Canada to LG, which was also announced Friday.

Overall, Stellantis is losing a massive amount of money and has little to show for it. For less money than the $26 billion loss, they could have bought Geely Automotive Holdings (177 billion HKD/$22.65 billion USD market cap). The loss is also more than the current market cap of Stellantis itself (17.9 billon Euro/$21.3 billion USD).

This comes after Ford lost $19.5 billion and GM lost $7.9 billion last year due to their own retreats from EVs. All of them were losing money on EVs before the retreat. GM and Ford still have a little EV presence left, and their stock price went up after announcing that they would scale back EV plans. However, unlike those companies, Stellantis is indicating that it will lose a significant amount of money again for 2025, and its stock was down around 24% on Friday. But Stellantis is not the only one paying the price.

US taxpayers gave billions in EV subsidies to Detroit brands to build manufacturing capacity that will now be used to make ICE vehicles. Many billions in manufacturing subsidies are still available at the federal and state level. The US government isn’t trying to claw that money back. However, some in Canada are trying to get their money back over shuttered plants. If Stellantis continues on its current path, there might not be much left to claw back.

Back in the US, policy propping up Detroit brands is increasingly propping up ICE vehicles. Primarily the full-sized pickups and SUVs that represent some of the thirstiest vehicles globally. Detroit has also proven incapable of producing affordable, fuel efficient cars, leaving those to the Japanese and Koreans. Protectionist measures targeting clean technology are blocking us from the best EVs available globally. These policies are perpetuating fossil fuel dependency.

If the market shifts back in favor of EVs, Stellantis can’t afford to reverse course again and will undoubtedly turn to the government for funds again. No matter how much government money you throw at Stellantis, I wouldn’t expect that to make it competitive in EVs. If another recession hits, will another bailout happen? Will Stellantis write off its Chrysler division like Daimler did before? Will anyone opt to pick up the pieces this time?

At this point, the best EV hope for Stellantis in Europe is its partnership with Leapmotor. Will Europeans allow for more collaboration, or will EU legacy automakers and their unions reverse planned emissions reductions? Could those Chinese EVs end up in Canada?

Only time will tell, but it seems that my previously “flat is the new up” EV prediction for the US will end up being overly optimistic. With the retreat from Detroit, distraction at Tesla, reluctance at Hyundai/Kia in the face of ICE raids, foot-dragging at Toyota … our best hope is for an eventual change in trade policy and new competition.