Stellantis Targets Return to Profit After Costly EV About-Turn — Update

By Joshua Kirby

Auto major Stellantis said it would work toward returning to profit this year, having booked a heavy loss for 2025 as it retreats from a pricey bet on electric vehicles.

The Jeep-maker said Thursday that it booked a net loss of 22.3 billion euros ($26.34 billion) for 2025 as a result of a major charge it flagged earlier this month. The group said in early February that it would book impairments totaling some $26 billion as it rows back major investments in EVs. The news dragged European-listed shares in the group to their lowest since it was formed by the 2021 merger of France's Peugeot with Italian-American Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles.

The financial blow "reflects the cost of overestimating the pace of the energy transition," said Antonio Filosa, Stellantis's chief executive. The company is resetting its strategy to offer customers greater flexibility across electric, hybrid and internal-combustion models, Filosa said.

Stellantis's sales for the year, meanwhile, fell 2% on year to 153.51 billion euros, hit by currency effects and price declines in the first half of 2025. Still, the company booked a return to growth in revenue in the second half of the year as vehicle shipments picked up.

For this year, Stellantis said it aims for a mid-single-digit percent rise in revenue and a swing back to a slightly positive adjusted operating margin. The balance sheet should see some improvement on year, the company said, adding that it aims to return to positive free cash flow in its main operations in 2027.

"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," Filosa said.

Filosa said at the time of the announcement that the write-downs "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."

The charge--which covers costs such as payments to suppliers for canceled orders--would lead to an adjusted operating loss of around 1.2 billion to 1.5 billion euros for the second half, Stellantis said at the time. The group said it would strive to shore up its balance sheet by issuing bonds and pausing shareholder payouts.

For the year, Stellantis's adjusted operating loss came to 842 million euros, swinging from a profit of 8.65 billion euros in 2024, it said in Thursday's update. The adjusted operating margin was minus 0.5%.

The impairment mirrored similar row-backs among Stellantis's peers as the industry scales back a once-ambitious push to phase out fossil-fuel-powered vehicles through investment in EVs. President Trump's administration has cut subsidies for EVs and funding for charging infrastructure, and quashed emissions rules that favored electric models.

Combined with impairments booked by General Motors and Ford Motor, charges related to a dialing-down of EV investment have climbed to more than $50 billion in recent months.

Still, the stinging charges booked in the second half of last year offer Stellantis the chance to start afresh, Berenberg auto analyst Romain Gourvil wrote in a note to clients.

"We acknowledge that Stellantis's earnings recovery will take time," Gourvil said. " But [the charges] also largely de-risk the near-term earnings trajectory."

Write to Joshua Kirby at joshua.kirby@wsj.com; @joshualeokirby

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 26, 2026 03:36 ET (08:36 GMT)