When Carlos Tavares abruptly resigned as chief executive of Stellantis in December 2024, the world’s fourth-largest automaker was bleeding market share, hemorrhaging dealer goodwill, and facing an existential question: Was the 2021 mega-merger between Fiat Chrysler and PSA Group a historic masterstroke or an unwieldy experiment destined to fracture under pressure? Six months later, new CEO Antonio Filosa is answering that question with a sweeping $26 billion restructuring plan and a pointed message to investors, employees, and skeptics alike — the company is stronger together.

Filosa, who took the permanent CEO role after serving as interim leader and previously heading Stellantis’s North American operations, unveiled the broad strokes of his turnaround strategy in early 2026. The plan commits roughly $26 billion in capital expenditures and investments designed to reset the automaker’s product portfolio, repair fractured relationships with its dealer network, and reposition Stellantis as a credible competitor in both the electric vehicle race and the still-dominant internal combustion market. It is, by any measure, one of the most ambitious corporate overhauls in modern automotive history.

A New Captain Charts a Different Course From His Predecessor

The contrast between Filosa and his predecessor could hardly be sharper. Tavares was known as a relentless cost-cutter — a reputation that earned him admiration on Wall Street but alienated dealers, suppliers, and factory workers across multiple continents. Under Tavares, Stellantis posted record profits in 2023, but those gains masked deteriorating fundamentals: aging vehicle lineups, plummeting U.S. market share, and a dealer body that openly revolted against what it described as punitive inventory practices. By the time Tavares departed, Stellantis’s stock had lost roughly 40% of its value from its 2023 highs, and the company had issued multiple profit warnings, as reported by CNBC.

Filosa has signaled a philosophical departure. In his first major interview as permanent CEO, he told CNBC that the $26 billion reset is not merely about plugging financial holes but about fundamentally rethinking how Stellantis operates as a unified entity. “We are stronger together,” Filosa said, a phrase he has repeated in multiple forums and one that serves as both a rallying cry and a direct rebuttal to analysts who have speculated that Stellantis might be better off breaking apart its sprawling portfolio of 14 brands. The CEO has emphasized that the merger’s original logic — combining PSA’s European efficiency with FCA’s North American profitability and global brand diversity — remains sound, even if the execution under Tavares went sideways.

The $26 Billion Question: Where Does the Money Go?

The restructuring plan’s $26 billion price tag encompasses several major pillars. First, Stellantis is accelerating investment in new vehicle platforms, particularly its STLA Large, STLA Medium, and STLA Frame architectures, which are designed to underpin everything from compact Peugeots to full-size Ram trucks. The company has acknowledged that its product cadence slipped badly in 2024 and 2025, leaving key brands like Jeep, Dodge, and Alfa Romeo without competitive new entries at precisely the moment rivals were flooding showrooms with fresh metal.

Second, a significant portion of the capital is earmarked for electrification — but with a pragmatic twist. Unlike some competitors that went all-in on battery electric vehicles only to retrench when consumer demand softened, Filosa is pursuing what he calls a “multi-energy” strategy. Stellantis will continue developing BEVs, including critical models like the next-generation Fiat 500e and the electric Ram 1500 REV, but it will also invest heavily in plug-in hybrids and updated internal combustion powertrains. This approach reflects a hard-learned lesson across the industry: the transition to electric is real but uneven, and automakers that abandon profitable ICE vehicles prematurely risk financial ruin.

North America: Ground Zero for the Turnaround

Nowhere is the reset more urgent than in North America, which historically has been Stellantis’s profit engine. The region’s contribution to the bottom line cratered in 2024 and 2025 as the company’s U.S. market share fell to levels not seen in decades. Jeep, once the crown jewel of the portfolio, saw sales decline amid aging models and pricing strategies that pushed consumers toward competitors like Toyota, Hyundai, and Ford. Ram, the company’s lucrative truck brand, faced similar headwinds as the full-size pickup segment became increasingly competitive.

Filosa, who ran the North American business before ascending to the CEO role, has intimate knowledge of these problems. He has moved quickly to address dealer concerns, rolling back some of Tavares’s more contentious inventory policies and committing to a more collaborative relationship with the retail network. Dealer satisfaction, long a sore point for Stellantis brands in J.D. Power surveys, is now a stated corporate priority. The company has also begun adjusting pricing on key models, acknowledging that Tavares-era price increases — some exceeding 30% over three years — had pushed vehicles beyond the reach of core customers.

Tariffs, Trade Wars, and the Geopolitical Wild Card

Complicating Filosa’s turnaround is a volatile trade environment. The Trump administration’s tariffs on imported vehicles and auto parts have created significant uncertainty for Stellantis, which manufactures vehicles in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Italy, France, and several other countries. The company’s Toluca, Mexico, plant produces the Jeep Compass, while its Windsor, Ontario, facility builds minivans — both subject to tariff exposure depending on the evolving trade framework between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

Stellantis has responded by exploring ways to increase U.S. content in its North American vehicles and by lobbying alongside other automakers for tariff relief or phase-in periods. Filosa has been careful not to politicize the issue publicly, but the financial implications are enormous. Industry analysts estimate that sustained 25% tariffs on vehicles imported from Mexico and Canada could cost Stellantis billions annually in added costs — expenses that would either compress margins or be passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices, further undermining the company’s efforts to regain market share.

The Brand Portfolio Debate: Pruning or Preserving?

One of the most closely watched aspects of the Stellantis reset is what happens to its sprawling brand portfolio. The company owns 14 marques — Jeep, Ram, Dodge, Chrysler, Fiat, Peugeot, Citroën, Opel, Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Lancia, DS, Vauxhall, and Abarth — a collection that critics have long argued is too large to manage efficiently. Under Tavares, there were periodic rumors of brand divestitures, but none materialized. Filosa appears to be taking a different approach: rather than killing brands, he wants to sharpen their identities and reduce overlap.

Maserati, the Italian luxury marque, is a particular focus. The brand has struggled mightily, with sales plummeting and losses mounting despite the launch of the Grecale SUV and the electric GranTurismo Folgore. Filosa has acknowledged Maserati’s difficulties but has stopped short of announcing a sale or shutdown, instead pledging a “relaunch” that will include new products and a more focused market positioning. Chrysler, another perennially troubled brand, is expected to receive its long-awaited electric crossover, the Airflow, though timelines have slipped repeatedly. Whether these brands can justify their existence within a company that is simultaneously trying to cut costs and invest in the future remains one of the central tensions of the Filosa era.

Labor Relations and the Human Cost of Restructuring

The $26 billion plan also carries significant implications for Stellantis’s global workforce. The company has already announced plant closures and production cuts in Italy, drawing sharp criticism from Italian unions and politicians. In the United States, the United Auto Workers union has clashed with Stellantis over the company’s compliance with commitments made during the contentious 2023 contract negotiations, which included promises to reopen an idled assembly plant in Belvidere, Illinois. Filosa has pledged to honor the company’s labor agreements, but the math of a massive restructuring inevitably involves difficult decisions about headcount, shift patterns, and plant utilization.

In Europe, the situation is equally fraught. France and Italy both view Stellantis as a national champion of sorts, and any moves to shift production or reduce employment in those countries carry political consequences. Filosa, a Brazilian-Italian executive with deep international experience, must navigate these sensitivities while delivering the financial results that investors demand. It is a balancing act that will define his tenure.

What Investors and Industry Watchers Should Expect Next

Wall Street’s initial reaction to the Filosa era has been cautiously optimistic. Stellantis shares have stabilized after their steep decline, and several analysts have upgraded the stock to hold or buy ratings, citing the new CEO’s operational credibility and the sheer scale of the investment commitment. However, skeptics note that turnaround plans in the auto industry frequently stumble in execution, and that Stellantis faces headwinds — from tariffs to EV transition costs to intensifying Chinese competition — that no amount of capital spending can fully neutralize.

The next twelve to eighteen months will be critical. Filosa must begin delivering tangible results: new vehicles that excite consumers, improved dealer metrics, and evidence that the $26 billion is being deployed effectively rather than simply papering over structural problems. The question of whether Stellantis is truly “stronger together” — or whether it remains a collection of legacy brands held together by financial engineering — will be answered not by CEO speeches but by showroom traffic, factory utilization rates, and quarterly earnings reports. For now, Filosa has bought himself time and goodwill. The clock, however, is already ticking.