AUBURN HILLS – Stellantis – the automaking conglomerate that owns brands such as Dodge, Fiat, and Chrysler – is continuing to take steps backward when it comes to its new vehicles and modern technology. This time, one of the company’s top executives has walked back what was a very aggressive target from the company.
Along with the reveal of multiple EVs at the IAA show in Munich this week, the automaker’s head of Europe has said that the company is no longer pursuing the most important part of its Dare Forward strategic plan. It won’t be going fully electric by 2030, and he said that the EU’s carbon emissions targets are no longer possible, Reuters reported.
In late 2024, then-CEO Carlos Tavares continued to push forward. He said that the EU’s strong emissions targets were a key to European automakers staying competitive on the global stage. He refused to join competitors pushing for a pause and said Stellantis would be compliant without paying fines or buying credits.
Stellantis launched an electric Jeep, an electric Dodge Charger, and announced a fully-electric Ram. It even dropped the Hemi V8 from its best-selling model, despite the outcry it generated. In 2024, it said it would begin the roll-out of four electrified trucks that year and eight new large EVs by 2026. That never happened, and the electric Ram 1500 REV was delayed,
In 2025, the CEO is out, the Hemi is back, and the electric Charger seems close to death. The Ram EV is on hold and will now come after a range-extended model, if it comes at all. The EU pushed back its latest emissions crackdown to 2027, but Jean-Philippe Imparato, head of the expanded Europe region for Stellantis, said the company still couldn’t hit them. He said earlier this year that the company would have to double current EV sales in Europe, and if it couldn’t, he would have to start cutting ICE factories by November. If he didn’t, the company would face billions in fines.
Imparato seems to have put the final nail in the plan with his statement at the Munich show. He said that Stellantis will no longer pursue a target of producing only electric vehicles by 2030 (via Reuters). It’s not clear what it will pursue, as its storied brands like Maserati, Alfa Romeo, and Chrysler have failed to bring new vehicles to market.
Stellantis is far from the only automaker to backslide on its electric plans. Volvo dropped its own plan to be fully electric by 2030 late last year, and Mercedes-Benz, General Motors, and the Volkswagen Group have all made significant revisions and restarted investment in internal combustion engines for future models. A field that was all but dead just a few years ago. We’ve reached out to Stellantis to try to learn more about what this means for its own future products and plans.
