Stellantis has suspended the plan to restructure its dealership network in Europe, which was launched by the company’s former CEO, Carlos Tavares, in 2021.
The plan, which was part of the strategy to cut costs and support investment in electrification, aimed to terminate previous contracts and move towards a new distribution structure based on an “agency model.”
In this new model envisioned by Tavares, who left Stellantis in December 2024, the company takes more direct control over sales transactions and pricing, while the dealers’ mission is to deliver vehicles and services, not acting as contractual partners to the customer.
Tavares’ plan faced opposition from dealers who claimed that this change would compromise profit margins on vehicle sales.
Now, according to a report from “Reuters,” Jean-Philippe Imparato, the director of operations for extended Europe, revealed at an event with dealers that Stellantis has suspended the plan in Europe, with sales networks reverting to the traditional dealership structure, except for Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, where a transition to the new agency structure was already launched in 2023.
Imparato also stated that Stellantis will soon request the European Union to support automotive production in the region, which, according to the director of operations for Europe at Stellantis, has high labor and energy costs, as well as heavy regulation.
The proposal to be presented by Stellantis to the European Union includes a support program for car trade-ins, aimed at helping to replace vehicles older than 10 years, as well as public contributions for the production of batteries for electric vehicles in Europe at €40 per kilowatt, which amounts to nearly half of the total production costs.
