Stellantis pays 235 million euros to abandon hydrogen for good... and leaves behind a company that is shedding 358 jobs

Less than a year after officially turning its back on hydrogen, Stellantis is taking this strategic about-turn a stage further. This time, it's not just a matter of stopping the program, but of withdrawing completely, concretely... and expensively.

According to several concordant sources, the automotive group will pay up to 235 million euros to definitively exit Symbio, its joint venture dedicated to fuel cells. A substantial sum, but much less than the 400 million initially suggested. An almost secondary detail in view of the industrial and social consequences already visible.

A negotiated exit

In order to leave Symbio, Stellantis had to find common ground with its partners Michelin and Forvia. The agreement currently being finalized is based on a hybrid financial package: approximately 145 million euros in debt forgiveness, plus 90 million euros in cash. This compromise enables the automaker to settle its commitment to a technology that it now considers to have no profitable medium-term future. A decision in line with the announcement made in july 2025, when Stellantis announced the end of its hydrogen programs, citing high costs and an insufficiently mature market.

The Group acquired a 33.3 % stake in Symbio in 2023, with the ambition of playing a key role in the development of hydrogen, particularly for commercial vehicles. Barely two years later, this gamble has been definitively abandoned.

Symbio weakened by the departure of its main customer

For Stellantis, the page has been turned, but for Symbio, the shock is brutal. For beyond the withdrawal of a shareholder, it is above all the loss of its main customer that has profoundly destabilized the company. The manufacturer alone accounted for almost 80 % of orders for the company based near Lyon. This massive dependence is making the transition particularly difficult.

As a result, a vast social plan is already underway. It calls for the elimination of 358 jobs, i.e. around 70 % of the workforce. This decision has provoked strong reactions from the unions, who are denouncing a «brutal shock» and are trying to save some of the jobs, particularly in research and development. Behind these figures, an entire industry is reeling. Symbio was considered a pillar of the hydrogen ecosystem in France, with a theoretical production capacity of up to 50,000 systems a year.

A strategic turning point under Filosa

This withdrawal was no accident. It's part of a wider movement driven by the group's new CEO, Antonio Filosa, who has embarked on a genuine strategic refocusing. The objective is clear: to restore financial equilibrium after the years of Carlos Tavares' management, by putting an end to projects deemed too costly or too uncertain. Hydrogen, despite its long-term potential, is now one of them.

In fact, Stellantis had already set aside over a billion euros to cover all the costs associated with abandoning this technology, including the initial investment in Symbio and exit costs. In the meantime, the Group prefers to concentrate its resources on solutions deemed more viable in the short and medium term: electrics for passenger cars, and hybrids to meet cost and range constraints.

Hydrogen, a still uncertain technology in Europe

Ironically, this withdrawal comes at a time when hydrogen continues to enjoy strong support in other parts of the world. In Germany, industrial projects are moving forward, while in China, the technology is one of the country's strategic priorities. But in Europe, the situation remains as it was in 2025: insufficient infrastructure, high costs and a still-fragile business model. These are the factors that have prompted Stellantis to make its decision.

The abandonment of Symbio thus marks much more than a simple financial withdrawal. It symbolizes the end of an industrial ambition which, in the space of a few years, has gone from being a strategic pillar to an overly risky gamble. And it leaves behind a more concrete reality: hundreds of jobs lost, and an industry that must now reinvent itself without its main supporter.