The Opel parent company Stellantis has to write off 22 billion euros and cancel the dividend in order to “put customers and their preferences back at the center of our actions”. The second largest European car manufacturer and VW competitor announced this on Friday at its headquarters in Amsterdam. The stronger customer orientation should primarily consist of having fewer fully electric cars and more hybrid models in the range. It is a departure from the strict electrification course of the former CEO Carlos Tavares. His successor Antonio Filosa used the announcement to settle scores with his predecessor. Under Tavares, the “speed of the energy transition was overestimated”. Stellantis has “moved away from the real needs, possibilities and wishes of many car buyers”. The Italian manager also announced that it was important to eliminate “previous operational weaknesses”. It is well known that the newly arrived CEOs are cleaning up in order to be able to present good growth figures on an adjusted basis. A new start for the manager from Italy, who took office on June 23, 2025, was expected. But the fact that he had to make such deep cuts was surprising. The analysts at the brokerage firm Equita, for example, had expected depreciation of only around two billion euros, a tenth of the figures now reported. The group now expects a net loss of 19 to 21 billion euros for last year; the results will be announced on February 26th. Models will be canceled Against this background, Stellantis shares temporarily lost around 28 percent on Friday, reaching their lowest level in more than ten years, provided that the predecessor companies Peugeot-Citroën and Fiat-Chrysler are used for this calculation. The day before, Stellantis shares had lost almost six percent. The Italian-French company has to write down values, especially in the United States. As a result of Donald Trump’s abolition of electric car subsidies and changes in emissions guidelines, the European group is discontinuing models there and accounting for platforms with lower value. This also concerns future burdens: Of the almost 14.7 billion euros in burdens in the United States, 5.8 billion euros are attributable to cash payments over the next four years. Due to the realignment of the product portfolio, these go primarily to suppliers and contractual partners. Globally, these cash payments amount to 6.5 billion euros. To do this, the company must take on up to five billion euros in additional debt through hybrid bonds. These help to secure “industrially available” net liquidity of 46 billion euros at the end of the year. According to Stellantis, the planned models that will be canceled include the Ram 1500 electric pick-up truck. The group is also switching from plug-in hybrid vehicles to hybrid cars without plug-in charging. The Jeep Wrangler (PHEV), Jeep Grand Cherokee and the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid models are to be phased out. In addition to the “full hybrids”, Stellantis also wants to focus on concepts that give electric cars with a combustion engine more range. More on the topic The group wants to accompany the turnaround in model policy with an extensive reform of production and quality management. To this end, over 2,000 engineers will be hired, especially in North America. Regional teams will make more decisions in the future so that customers are better satisfied, it is said. The planned investments will primarily go to the United States; There they would reach the highest level in the company’s American history. Stellantis plans to invest $13 billion in the United States over the next four years. Five new models are to be introduced there and 5,000 new jobs are to be created. Stellantis sees the latest sales figures as a sign of hope: in the fourth quarter, sales in North America rose by 43 percent. In Europe, however, the group recorded a decline of four percent. Stellantis generates around 40 percent of its sales in North America, primarily in the United States. The Citroën C3, C3 Aircross, Opel Frontera and Fiat Grande Panda models performed well in Europe. However, things went downhill, especially at Peugeot. Opel announced on Friday that Stellantis’ announcements would have “no impact on the brands and our factories, apart from the mentioned changes to the model plans.”
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