According to foreign media reports, on July 1, Jean-Philippe Imparato, head of Stellantis’ European business, said at a meeting of the Italian House of Representatives that Stellantis may have to close some factories due to possible huge fines for failing to meet the EU’s carbon dioxide emission targets.
Previously, in response to the catastrophic effects of climate change, the European Union introduced regulations that European automakers must sell moreElectric vehicleto reduce CO2 emissions, otherwise face fines. However, the automotive industry has successfully lobbied to buy more time to comply, and the EU penalty standard will be based on the overall emissions data of car companies from 2025 to 2027, rather than just based on 2025 performance.
Image credit: Fiat Automobiles
However, Imparato said that even so, the EU’s carbon emission targets are still out of reach for automakers, and the company could face fines of up to 2.5 billion euros ($2.95 billion) in the next “two to three years”.
He said that if there are no major changes in the EU regulatory environment by the end of this year, “we will have to make difficult decisions”, implying that they may choose to close the factory.
Imparato explained that Stellantis faces a dilemma to optimize the energy mix of its products, either to double the sales of electric vehicles (which is obviously impractical) or to drastically reduce traditional fuel vehiclesCapacity。
“I have two solutions: either desperately push for electric vehicles or stop production of internal combustion engine vehicles, in which case the group will have to close some of its factories. He specifically mentioned the group’s van plant in Atessa, Italy.
The threat of factory shutdowns reflects the pain of the entire automotive industry’s electrification transition under multiple difficulties: unresolved supply chain bottlenecks, high battery costs, and uneven market demand. Stellantis’ woes may accelerate its investment in electric vehicle manufacturing, but it will also lead to a wave of layoffs and production cuts for entry-level fuel vehicles, which could ripple through rural consumers who rely on economical traditional fuel models. Although the automotive industry has successfully lobbied to postpone emissions fines until 2027, this is only a stopgap measure and will not help fundamentally solve the industrial problem of car companies meeting emission standards.