Stellantis will act decisively after significant first-half loss

The new CEO of Stellantis, Antonio Filosa, has his job cut out, following a €2.3 billion post-tax loss in the first half of 2025.

He blames tariff uncertainty, foreign exchange issues and a decline in light commercial vehicle sales in Europe for the result.

Falls in Europe were offset slightly by the popularity of cars like the Jeep Avenger. However, he faces some tough decisions to turn things around.

A decline in light commercial vehicle sales in Europe was in part due to the closure of the Luton van plant in the UK. The problems in North America are due to reduced deliveries following Trump’s tariff implementations.

The loss is in marked contrast to the result of a year ago, when the firm posted profits of almost £5b. Revenue of €74.3b for the first half of 2025 represented a 13 per cent year-on-year drop.

In particular, revenue dropped in its two main markets, North America and Europe. Deliveries were down by almost 300,000 units in total. 

Stellantis, which owns 14 automotive brands, said significant growth in South American markets partly offset the poor result. Shipments there rose to almost half a million while post-tax revenue was €402m. 

Stellantis doesn’t break down its results by manufacturer, other than for Maserati which recorded a 2300-car drop in deliveries to 4200 units.

The European-based firm expects the lingering impact of the US tariffs to continue into the second half of the year. It estimates losses of €1.2bn will accrue across the rest of 2025.

Antonio Filosa, the new CEO who started in June, said 2025 is “turning out to be a tough year”. However, he insisted that the firm’s new leadership team will make “the tough decisions” required to re-establish profit and improve results. The nature of such decisions was not disclosed.

And in somewhat related news, VW-owned Cupra has decided to postpone a proposed launch in the US for the time being. Despite deliveries increasing by one-third in the first half of the year, Cupra’s revenue fell by two per cent and profit by 90 per cent.

New EU duties on its Chinese-built Tavascan EV and reduced output from its Martorell plant because of model changes were cited as primary reasons for the profit drop. Car makers in Europe fear that the recently announced 15 per cent tariff on cars sold in America (with no tariffs on US cars sold in Europe) will result in job losses in the industry.