Stellantis: Italian plant shut down due to poor strategy 100 % electric. "Everything was ready

The year 2026 will begin as 2025 ended for the plant Stellantis Cassino: doors closed, lines shut down and employees placed on solidarity contracts. On Monday December 29, the Group announced a new production stoppage from January 2 to 16, effectively extending a full month of inactivity since the site has already been shut down since mid-December. This situation is no longer exceptional, but illustrates a deep-seated, structural crisis, closely linked to the strategic choices made in recent years.

Cassino, symbol of a deepening crisis

The figures speak for themselves. In 2025, production at the Cassino plant didn't even reach 18,000 vehicles, a historically low level. And projections for 2026 are even bleaker, with Alfa Romeo volumes unlikely to exceed 13,000 units. For a region that has built its economic and social equilibrium around the automobile, the situation is becoming critical. The absence of new models before 2027, or even 2028, and the chronic under-utilization of facilities are fuelling growing concern that Cassino will survive on announcements and promises alone, with no real short-term industrial plan.

Alfa Romeo, prisoner of a bet 100 electric %

At the root of this impasse was a strategic choice that is now widely called into question. Stellantis' original plan was to transform Alfa Romeo into a 100 % electric brand by 2027. In this scenario, the Tonale was to gradually end its career, while the new all-electric Stelvio was to be introduced in 2026, followed by the new electric Giulia in 2027. These two models were to be the successors to the current Giulia and Stelvio, whose volumes are declining year after year. Except that this irreversible shift to electric power was conceived without any real plan B. The STLA Large platform dedicated to future Alfa Romeo models has been developed exclusively for the electric 100 %. Hybrid powertrains, whether light or rechargeable, were simply not foreseen in time. As a result, even though the market for electric vehicles is slowing down sharply, Alfa Romeo finds itself with models that are technically ready... but commercially unsuited to the new reality.

Stellantis' strategic shift comes too late

The paradox is cruel. Since his arrival, the new CEO of Stellantis, Antonio Filosa, has clearly decided to change course. At the end of 2025, he publicly acknowledged that assumptions about the electricity transition were wrong. In-house forecasts had predicted massive electric vehicle penetration in both Europe and the United States. The reality of the market, marked by vehicle prices, purchasing power and usage, has forced a complete rethink of strategy. From now on, Stellantis wants to offer a wide range of powertrains for each model and each brand: combustion, light hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric. A pragmatic approach, dictated by real demand, and already crowned with success across the Atlantic with the return in force of hybrid powertrains and even the V8 at Ram.

But in Europe, and at Alfa Romeo in particular, this turnaround comes too late. The new Giulia and Stelvio were conceived, designed and industrialized around the all-electric concept. Adapting the STLA Large platform to hybrid powertrains requires time, additional investment and extensive technical validation. Hence the postponement to 2027, or even 2028, for these two key models.

"Everything was ready, but nobody wanted it anymore

I mentioned this situation myself a few months ago at theAlfa Romeo Tonale PHEV test drive. On the occasion of this test drive, I spoke to Cristiano Fiorio, then head of communications and marketing at Alfa Romeo. Lucid about the strategic shift taken by Stellantis, he didn't hide a certain bitterness. In his own words, "everything was ready" to launch sales and production of the new Stelvio. The teams, the production facilities, the product itself: everything had been aligned according to the initial roadmap. But the market, for its part, had already begun to turn its back on an imposed electric transition that was too rapid and too rigid. The product was ready, but the context was no longer.

2026, a sacrificial year for Cassino

The consequences are very real today. With no new-generation Giulia or Stelvio, and no hybrid alternative ready for production, the Cassino plant finds itself without a real industrial engine. As a result, 2026 looks set to be almost a blank slate, and 2027 could yet be another year of painful transition. The site is paying the price for a strategy based on technological dogma, without sufficiently integrating market signals. In stark contrast, Antonio Filosa now advocates a more balanced transition, taking into account the environment, employment and affordability.