Automotive News Europe — 2026-02-24
Automotive Industry
Stellantis’ European dealer network, which has seen sales fall sharply in the past two years, has joined automakers and industry groups in appealing the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for legislative relief.
In a letter to von der Leyen, the dealers say a Commission proposal released in December that eases the 2035 zero-emission target by 10 percent if automakers offset tailpipe emissions with green steel or synthetic or biofuels is insufficient to kick-start demand.
“Our distribution network now facing an unprecedented challenge,” the dealers said in the letter, a copy of which was seen by Automotive News Europe.
The Commission in December released a comprehensive package of measures meant to bolster the competitiveness of the European auto industry, which is facing pressure from Chinese rivals, inflation and uneven EV adoption. Sales remain about 15 percent below pre-pandemic levels — or several million vehicles per year.
The presidents of Stellantis’ dealer associations have drafted a letter to von der Leyen, who is also expected to release a draft of the Industrial Action Plan, which could contain measures to support the auto sector, including local content rules for EVs, this week.
The dealers’ demands are in line with industry groups, including the main automakers’ lobby, as well as ACEA, and Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa, who in December called on the EU to relax emissions rules for commercial vans, supercredits for small cars, a role for sustainable fuels and measures to help owners of older cars trade them in for newer, cleaner models.
Dealers align with Stellantis as CEO seeks to repair relationship
Under former CEO Carlos Tavares, whom Filosa replaced last summer, the automaker had a contentious relationship with dealers in Europe, where it had sought to enact a direct-sales agency model, and in the U.S, where dealers said Stellantis prices were too high, key models were missing, and that the automaker was out of touch with what buyers wanted.
Filosa has moved quickly to appease dealers, re-introducing popular products such as the Hemi V-8 for pickup trucks, and embarking on a listening tour in Europe. Stellantis sales were down 3.9 percent in 2025 in Europe, while the overall market was up by 2.3 percent, according to figures from Dataforce. Sales fell by 6.8 percent in 2024, in a market that was up by 0.9 percent.
Among the dealers’ demands:
The dealers said they “have no foreclosures of any kind” toward a zero-emission future,” but that “the European Commission must take the needs of its consumers into serious consideration, as well as carefully assess the reality of the market in which the distribution network and European manufacturers operate today.”
The proposals released in December will need to be approved by the European Parliament, which has not released a timetable for ratification.