Stellantis likely to withdraw from battery joint venture with Samsung SDI
Antonio Filosa, who took over as CEO in June 2025, has spent months aggressively deprioritising electromobility within the Stellantis Group. Just last week, he announced write-downs totalling approximately 22.2 billion euros, the majority of which relate to the battery-electric vehicle (BEV) sector. Filosa has scrapped model plans, including an electric version of the popular Ram 1500 pickup. The battery joint venture ACC, formed with Mercedes and TotalEnergies, has definitively abandoned its plans to build gigafactories in Germany and Italy. Additionally, LG Energy Solution is taking over NextStar Energy, the battery joint venture with Stellantis, in its entirety.
This development aligns with reports from news agency Bloomberg, which, citing insider sources, claims that Stellantis is now also planning to exit its battery joint venture with the South Korean company Samsung SDI. The venture is currently constructing two battery cell factories in Kokomo, Indiana, USA, and already operates a production facility for stationary battery energy storage systems (BESS) at the site.
Stellantis, a conglomerate encompassing 14 brands such as Fiat, Opel, and Peugeot in Europe, and Chrysler, Jeep, and Ram in the US, is currently exploring options to withdraw from the joint venture. However, no final decision has been made. An exit could prove costly for Stellantis, potentially leading to further write-downs or penalty payments to its partner Samsung SDI. After all, Stellantis intended to use the cells produced at the facility for its electric vehicles (EVs), though this would not necessarily be ruled out if the plant were to have a different ownership structure in the future.
It is not yet certain that Samsung SDI will take over Stellantis’s shares—as LG Energy Solution did with NextStar Energy for a symbolic price of just 100 US dollars. According to Bloomberg’s sources, Stellantis might also sell its stake to a third party. “We continue to hold discussions with Samsung regarding the future of our joint venture, StarPlus Energy,” Stellantis stated in an email to Bloomberg, while the news agency has yet to receive an official statement from Samsung SDI.
Stellantis is expected to require significantly fewer battery cells in the coming years than initially planned, which is why all joint ventures in this area are currently under scrutiny. CEO Antonio Filosa cites several reasons for scaling back the ambitious electric vehicle targets set by his predecessor, Carlos Tavares. These include the slower-than-expected growth of electromobility and changes in US regulations. The latter likely refers to the expiry of the US tax credit of 7,500 US dollars on 30 September 2025 and the relaxed emission standards for internal combustion engine vehicles introduced by the Trump administration.
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