«The EB2 Gen3 engine is compatible with Euro7 standards»: Stellantis announces that its Puretech engine will continue after 2027

For several months, everything seemed to indicate that the famous 1.2L PureTech engine from Stellantis was slowly coming to an end. Between the return to favor of Fiat FireFly engines, industrial investment in Italian engines and the constraints imposed by the future Euro 7 standard, many signals suggested that the group was preparing a switch from French to Italian engines. However, official information has now reshuffled the deck.

While a large number of media outlets have relayed our idea of a gradual replacement of the PureTech engine by Fiat GSE engines, Stellantis finally clarified his position with Caradisiac with a statement that profoundly changes the reading of its strategy: «the EB2 Gen3 engine has also been made compatible with Euro 7 standards. It will remain under the hood after the end of 2027 in the cars it equips today». In other words, the PureTech is not doomed. At least, not in the short term.

The PureTech will survive the arrival of Euro 7

This clarification is far from insignificant. For several months now, many people have imagined that the introduction of the Euro 7 standard would automatically signal the end of PSA engines on the Group's compact models.

It has to be said that the context was clearly in this direction. Stellantis was multiplying announcements concerning Fiat FireFly engines: extension of investments with Euro 7 standard accounting, development of new hybrid versions, industrial modernization in Italy and ramp-up of the eDCT electrified gearbox. At the same time, GSE engines were gradually becoming the Group's new thermal showcase.

But the official statement changes the perspective. If the EB2 Gen3 engine is indeed Euro 7 compliant, this means that a model launched today with this engine can continue to be marketed after November 2027 without having to change powertrain. And this applies to many more cars than you might think.

Alfa Romeo, Fiat and Lancia models directly affected

In practice, this means that several strategic Stellantis models will probably retain this engine until the end of their commercial careers. This is particularly true of the’Alfa Romeo Juniorthe Lancia Ypsilon or the Fiat Grande Panda, all launched with different variants of the engine known by different brand names: PureTech, EB2 Gen3, TGEN3 or Turbo 100. Even future models announced, such as the next Fiat Grizzly or the new Lancia Gamma, could finally retain this mechanical base throughout their careers.

This is precisely where the situation becomes particularly interesting: the PureTech engine, which many already imagined to be at the end of its life, could end up remaining the main combustion engine for a large proportion of the Group's city cars and compacts until the early 2030s.

And the Fiat FireFly engine?

This new reading of Stellantis' strategy does not mean that Fiat GSE Turbo engines are disappearing from the landscape. All indications are that Euro 7-compatible FireFly engines still exist in the Group's industrial plans. But their role may be different from what was initially envisaged.

Rather than immediately replacing PureTech engines on existing models, these Italian engines could ultimately be reserved for future generations of all-new vehicles. In other words, Stellantis could have several families of internal combustion engines living side by side for many years to come.

Between development costs, Euro 7 constraints, global market differences and the slowing electric transition in Europe, Stellantis now seems to want to secure several technical solutions in parallel, rather than focusing on a single engine architecture.

Will we be getting Turbo 100s with the Puretech engine, Turbo 130s and Turbo 150s with the Firefly (GSE) engine, and Turbo 200s with the GME engine?

One thing is now certain: contrary to what many imagined just a few weeks ago, the PureTech engine will indeed continue its career after 2027. And it may even remain at the heart of Stellantis' European models for much longer than previously thought.