Stellantis declares bankruptcy in China, with 1 billion $ in debts

It's the official end of an ambitious project launched nearly fifteen years ago: the court in Changsha, Hunan province, has declared the Gac-Fiat Chrysler joint venture bankrupt, putting a definitive end to the industrial presence of Stellantis via this entity in China.

This joint venture, created in 2011 at the instigation of Sergio Marchionne, was to enable Fiat Chrysler to conquer the world's largest automobile market alongside Chinese giant GAC Group. At the time, the ambitions were immense: 17 billion yuan in investment (around 2.3 billion euros), two plants in Guangzhou and Changsha, a capacity of 300,000 vehicles a year, and a range adapted to local tastes, including Jeep Renegade, Compass, Cherokee and the Fiat Viaggio and Ottimo.

But after a sales peak in 2017 (over 200,000 units), the descent into hell was swift. Unable to keep up with the Chinese market, dominated by new technologies and electrified vehicles, Gac-FCA remained focused on thermal models that were increasingly unattractive to Chinese consumers.

In 2022, the company entered restructuring proceedings. Since then, no attempt has been made to sell assets: five public auctions have remained empty, despite the sale of land, equipment and two factories. The result: liabilities of over 8.1 billion yuan (approx. $1.1 billion), including 4 billion in undisputed debts, against assets estimated at just 1.9 billion. In the absence of an agreement with creditors, the court declared the company liquidated.

This failure also symbolizes the inability of Stellantis, like other Western manufacturers, to adapt to China's electric revolution, led by ultra-competitive local brands. Converting sites from fossil-fired to electric power would have required colossal investments that no investor was willing to make.

The geopolitical context and deteriorating relations between Stellantis and GAC have not helped matters. After the FCA-PSA merger, Carlos Tavares had tried to regain control of the joint venture, but GAC had opposed him, denouncing what it considered unsuitable governance and a regulatory climate unfavorable to foreign groups.

With this bankruptcy, Stellantis definitively turns the page on a part of the Asian strategy inherited from Marchionne. A page fraught with symbolism... and a billion-dollar liability to wipe out.