At the 2026 General Meeting of Stellantis, The tone was resolutely optimistic. Addressing shareholders in Amsterdam, John Elkann and Antonio Filosa defended a clear line: after a catastrophic 2025, the Group had laid the foundations for a sustainable rebound.
But the unions are not happy about this. For behind the promises of growth, the facts remain stark: 2025 was, in their view, the worst year in the automaker's history.
2025, a black year assumed by management
John Elkann made no attempt to play down the situation in front of shareholders. The Chairman himself described 2025 as a year of «transition», marked by a particularly hostile environment: regulatory uncertainties, geopolitical tensions, increased competition and supply chain disruptions.
The figures confirm this critical period. The group recorded a net loss of over 22 billion euros, due in particular to major write-downs and a vast strategic reset. Management has accepted this financial shock as a necessary step. «It's a year that no one can be proud of», admitted Elkann, but insisted that it had «laid the foundations for a more solid future».
A strategic reset to restart the machine
At the heart of the management's discourse: the idea of a complete turnaround. Antonio Filosa, now at the Group's operational helm, is calling for a profound strategic shift.
This repositioning involves first and foremost a refocusing on the customer, presented as the top priority. The manufacturer claims to have reviewed its product plans, corrected quality problems and adapted its offering to market realities. However, this shift has come at a cost. Stellantis has announced around 22 billion euros in expenses by 2025, These were described as «painful but necessary» to correct the company's trajectory and preserve its long-term value. Antonio Filosa insists that the current management team believes it has «put the company back on track», with the first signs of improvement already visible in the second half of the year, notably in orders and cash flow.
Looking ahead to 2026: a return to growth and profits?
Despite this heavy legacy, the message to investors is clear: the worst is behind us.
John Elkann speaks of a «change of direction» and a more efficient organization, while Antonio Filosa promises an improvement in results as early as 2026, with revenues, margins and cash flow expected to rise. The Group is also betting on a product offensive, with a dozen new models to be launched in 2025 and a multi-energy strategy: combustion, hybrid and electric, to give customers «the choice».
The next major event is already set for May 21, the date of the Investor Day, when Stellantis will detail its roadmap for the coming years.
Unions denounce a very different reality
But this optimistic vision is far from unanimous, particularly in Italy. The Fiom-Cgil union was quick to react after the meeting, pointing out that 2025 is «the worst year in the history of Stellantis». A statement that contrasts sharply with the official line.
On the ground, the situation remains worrying. Several plants are still suffering from a lack of production, with massive recourse to short-time working. Unions also point to a lack of investment in Italy, unlike in other regions such as the USA or North Africa. Despite the arrival of new models, judged insufficient, the main fear concerns jobs and the country's industrial future.
Between the promise of «profitable growth» and a tense social reality, the Group is playing an important role in the months ahead. The Investor Day in May could well be a key moment for clarifying strategy... and convincing, beyond shareholders, those who keep the factories running on a daily basis.
English 
French 
Italian 
Spanish 
Portuguese 
German 
Japanese 
Turkish 
Dutch
To convince employees in Italy, there aren't many options: we have to announce the production of new models in Italy with GSE or GME hybrid powertrains. I'm thinking of the future Tonale, based on the Jeep Compass assembled in Melfi. Problem: it weighs in at over 1.6 tons when internal combustion is used. We'd also need a model that's smaller but more roomy than the Junior, a Giulietta for example. Above all, rumors of a Leapmotor platform don't help. What about phase II of the 500e? They were supposed to offer a new battery and a more efficient engine...
Well for the Fiat 500 all you had to do was ask, the last article published talks about it 🙂
What responsiveness! 😂
Once you're in the hole, you can only bounce back, it seems... Elkann is the champion of empty rhetoric. He's been here for 10 years, but what does he do, apart from line his own pockets?
Hans
We can disappear too!
Nothing, and he'll never have the skills of his grandfather and father, that's for sure.
For years they have criticized his Brother but we see the result!
Elkann has unfortunately shown what he is capable of, or rather incapable of. He must go. He can't just use his position to enrich himself.
Exactly 👍🏻
New products and authentically Italian cars, not re-badged Peugeots with anemic engines, that's what John Elkann needs to understand. The Tavares years, the disgrace of recent years, must be put behind us.
Stanislas.
It depends on what you're talking about!
The management of model developments was an obvious disaster, with dramatic consequences for the brand's image.
Nevertheless.
Don't forget that Stellantis was still making a profit in 2023 and 2024.
In 2021 and 2022, they were even records!!!!
Don't forget, too, that they offer small EVs with 280 hp!!!!
And don't forget that the Italian 500 hybrid 100 % is anemic... Etc.
The 280 hp EVs, Alfa Romeo Junior Veloce and Abarth 600e, are very good and dynamic. But their range is too short on the road.
The Fiat 500 hybrid has a small engine to avoid malus and penalties.
As for Stellantis, I'm only interested in Italian brands, as even profitable made-in-France displacers are still cars of little interest.
The absence of new products, whether for Fiat or Alfa Romeo, or for Lancia, which is supposedly being relaunched while forgetting to set up sales outlets, explains the current situation.
Faut because they made record profits on their supplier and in no way on the sales of their products.
280hp in an EV is nothing to brag about, especially when you consider the weight, and their 280 models... nobody wants them.
You can show us the records, because nobody can see them but you.
It's been a catastrophic fall ever since this group was created, as we've seen, and the French are champions when it comes to anemic engines, and even more so with the problems of execrable reliability and dubious design, which will continue as long as we don't get rid of the most screwed-up French bases in automotive history.
And when it comes to flops, DS has become a textbook case 🤣
Before Stellantis, Maserati, Abarth, Fiat...etc sold cars, and not just a few.
Under Stellantis... nothing!
There's no point in making up wild stories, the figures speak for themselves.
Elkan understands everything apparently but acts not in the right way, moreover he drives Ferrari, not stellantis 1,2 puretoc. They always have an excuse for everything, it's because of standards......other manufacturers still have bigger engine choices but at stellantis, no!!!!
the dream: a shortened Giorgio chassis for a new Giulietta
From memory, this had been considered, but precisely because of the excellent Giorgio platform, the Giulietta would have been too expensive. It's hard to make an «entry-level» Giulietta on a shortened Giorgio platform, which is why it didn't go any further.
It's less complicated than that.
The Giulietta sur Giorgio really did exist as a prototype, but as it had empty crates it could never be industrialized, and the concept was never presented to the public who were to discover it at Geneva. Instead of releasing it, they preferred to fatten up the shareholders!
In short, nothing changes
That's probably another reason, in addition to the one I have from an inside source at the time, when they were talking about finally launching a Tonale on a Fiat platform rather than a Giorgio.
When you announce a vehicle and make a prototype, but in the same year boast that shareholders were able to make huge profits with Marchionne.... Don't be surprised if the projects don't materialize!