Explainer-Global carmakers book $55 billion hit from EV rollback

By Alessandro Parodi

Feb 6 (Reuters) - Global ⁠carmakers have ⁠booked some $55 ‍billion in writedowns in the past year as they scale back electric vehicle ambitions on a tough U.S. market under President ‍Donald Trump, price wars in China and a more complex ​mix of vehicle types in Europe.

The latest to join the growing pile is Jeep-to-Fiat owner ​Stellantis, which revealed charges of around 22.2 billion euros ($26.5 billion) in the second half of 2025, dragging its shares down over 20% to six year lows.

Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa ​said the writedowns were due to the "cost of over-estimating the pace of the energy transition", echoing similar comments by peers Ford, General Motors and ​Volkswagen.

Legacy carmakers are struggling to keep up with new entrants, especially from China, and watered down electrification ‌targets in Europe and in particular the U.S., a key market where the EV shift has stalled sharply.

STELLANTIS

The Franco-Italian automaker ​booked on February 6 its huge writedown, the ⁠biggest yet, which it said was linked to rejigging its product lineup to meet consumer demand and new emission ‌regulations in the United States.

The writedown includes payments of approximately 6.5 billion euros expected to be made over the next four years.

FORD MOTOR

The Dearborn, Michigan-based company said in ‌December it would take a $19.5 billion writedown and kill several EV models, and pivot hard ‌into gas and hybrid models instead.

GENERAL MOTORS

The largest U.S. automaker by sales said in January it would take a $6 billion charge to unwind some electric-vehicle investments, including a $4.2 billion ‍cash charge related to contract cancellations and settlements with suppliers.

VOLKSWAGEN/PORSCHE

Volkswagen, Europe's top carmaker, said last September it would take ⁠a 5.1 billion euro ($6 billion) hit from a far-reaching product overhaul at its Porsche unit, which delayed some EV models in favour of hybrids and combustion engine cars.

That included an around $3.5 billion impairment charge.

($1 = 0.8477 euros)

(Reporting by Alessandro Parodi; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Susan Fenton)

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