Stellantis, Filosa's new plan focuses on alliances and cost control

The countdown has begun. In less than a week's time, Stellantis will remove the veil from its new business plan to tell in detail on what basis it will continue the 'sequential recovery' path that only a few months ago took its first steps, after the maxi-cleaning in the balance sheet that led to a 22 billion loss at the end of 2025. But the questions and rumours go beyond the income statement and invest the role and future positioning, in a historical phase of structural change in the balance of power in the automotive industry, of a European operator such as Stellantis - but with strong roots in the North American market - grappling with global drivers (and headwinds) such as the evolution of the Chinese market, the right balance of Ev in the engine portfolio and price management.

In the long run-up over the last few months to the Capital Markets Day, set for next Thursday in Auburn Hills, Detroit, three main narrative threads have monopolised the attention of insiders. Thus, alongside the pressure on the need to regain balance in the profit and loss account (especially in terms of cost control and the ability to return to generating cash on an ongoing basis), the themes of new partnerships and the cleaning up of the brand portfolio have also been overbearingly tackled.

The first quarter of the year has delivered a snapshot of a company that, in the words of CEO Antonio Filosa, 'is back on a path of sustainable growth'; the declared objective is 'to increase profitability following the reset actions undertaken in 2025'. The key word, repeated repeatedly by Filosa in recent weeks at every public meeting and opportunity for discussion with analysts and journalists, is 'execution'. The focus is on prices, volumes, mix and above all costs, in a trajectory of 'progressive sequential improvement' - another central concept in the CEO's reasoning - quarter after quarter. Filosa recently mentioned, in this regard, the new global cost management programme called Vcp, Value creation programme, which is preparing to be operational on both the North American and European fronts and which will probably also act on some fixed cost components. The belief is that it will yield concrete results already in the coming quarters. "It will be a huge focus," explained Filosa. "Profit per unit will be a central point, as will the improvement of the mix in light commercial vehicles," with a view to stemming the "headwinds, basically related to regulations and CO2 emissions".

On the product front, on the other hand, the company, in the opinion of top management, has 'drastically improved the mix in North America' through certain pickup truck setups, particularly those equipped with the V8 Hemi engine, which accounted for 40 per cent of shipments. "We want to continue to push on this mix lever," Filosa said, "as we see growing demand, strong customer interest, and orders from dealers. Then we have many new launches planned."

The issue concerns the management of brands and, indirectly, speculation on the eve of the presentation of the plan linked to the possibility that Stellantis will choose to concentrate resources on four priority brands, defined as 'global brands' (Fiat for urban mobility in Europe and South America, Jeep for SUVs, Ram, strategic in North America, for commercial vehicles, and Peugeot as a generalist brand for the European market), leaving the other 'secondary' brands (Maserati, Alfa, Lancia, Ds, Citroen, Opel-Vauxhall, Dodge, Chrysler, Abarth, Fiat Professional) a follower role with respect to the four main platforms. Some pronouncement is undoubtedly expected in this respect. 'We are aware,' Filosa put it a few days ago, speaking to analysts, 'that we are privileged to work with so many iconic brands. They bring with them an undisputed legacy'.