Stellantis puts brakes on ICE car sales

Stellantis is limiting the availability of cars with internal combustion engines (ICE) in order to meet its electric vehicle (EV) sales targets.

In the UK, sales across the group were down by 19% (year-on-year) in September. While it doubled the number of EVs sold during the month, this came alongside a 34% decline in ICE sales.

Like all car makers, Stellantis is required to to sell a certain percentage of electric cars each year as part of the UK's ZEV mandate. Fines of £15,000 will apply to each car sold outside of the target.

A headline target of 22% applies in 2024, rising progressively to 80% in 2030. Stellantis UK is currently tracking at 17% across all its brands.

A leasing company representative confirmed to Fleet News that Stellantis was actively holding back ICE supply to the UK and was pushing EV models with heavier discounts.

They said: "There are others too but maybe none quite as exaggerated as Stellantis."

Further targets apply to car makers across Europe, including fines for selling cars with a CO2 emissions level of more than 95g/km.

Speaking at the Paris motor show, the car giant's new European COO Jean-Philippe Imparato said the production of ICE models will be curtailed if the demand for EVs remains at the current level. 

Data from Jato Dynamics shows Stellantis' year-on-year volumes dropped by 25% in September, across Europe.

The company recorded a significant fall in sales in 22 of the 28 European markets, most notably in Italy (-34%) and France (-17%), its two main markets. Stellantis brands that experienced a steep decline in sales last month include Fiat (-43%), Citroen (-41%) and Opel/Vauxhall (-24%).  Its EV market share dropped to 10.6% in September compared to 14.8% in the corresponding month last year.