DAVID BLACKMON: Stellantis Pivots To Diesel – What That Means For Europe’s EV Future
In what has to be one of the most predictable and sensible corporate U-turns of the decade, Stellantis – the sprawling auto umbrella that owns Vauxhall, Peugeot, Citroën, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Jeep and a dozen other brands…
In what has to be one of the most predictable and sensible corporate U-turns of the decade, Stellantis – the sprawling auto umbrella that owns Vauxhall, Peugeot, Citroën, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Jeep and a dozen other brands — is quietly bringing diesel engines back to life across Europe.
The strategic pivot comes after the company was forced to swallow a staggering £19 billion ($24 billion-plus) hit from its rushed electric vehicle gamble, causing the world’s fourth-largest automaker to decide maybe, just maybe, customers know what they want better than Brussels bureaucrats and Davos visionaries.
Starting late last year, Stellantis began reintroducing diesel powertrains in at least seven models: the Peugeot 308 hatchback, the premium DS 4, the Opel Astra, commercial and passenger vans like the Opel Combo, Peugeot Rifter and Citroën Berlingo, plus continued diesel options in Alfa Romeo’s Tonale, Stelvio and Giulia, and the DS7 SUV. Company spokesmen put it plainly: “We have decided to keep diesel engines in our product portfolio and — in some cases — to increase our powertrain offer. At Stellantis, we want to generate growth; that’s why we are focused on customer demand.”
Translation: The EV sales slump isn’t a temporary blip. It’s a market rejection, plain and simple.
Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa was even more direct when announcing the massive impairment charges earlier this month. The £19 billion write-down, he said, “largely reflect the cost of over-estimating the pace of the energy transition that distanced us from many car buyers’ real-world needs, means and desires.” Man, nobody could’ve seen that coming – if only someone had warned him that would happen!
Europe’s diesel market share cratered from roughly 50 percent in 2015 to just 7.7 percent last year, thanks to the post-Dieselgate hysteria and relentless regulatory pressure. EVs clawed their way to 19.5 percent of new sales, but that wasn’t nearly enough to offset the collapse in traditional powertrains or satisfy the arbitrary 2030 all-EV targets Stellantis and its peers once embraced. Sales for the company in Europe fell 3.9 percent in 2025 after a 7.3 percent drop the year before. Customers simply refused to trade their practical, affordable, long-range diesels for expensive battery-powered contraptions that struggle in cold weather, take hours to “refuel,” and cost a fortune to insure and repair.