According to two people familiar with the matter, Stellantis, the world's fourth-largest automaker, is considering various options, including a possible sale of its troubled luxury brand Maserati, in an effort to streamline its sprawling product line that encompasses 14 brands.

 

These discussions about Maserati's future began long before Stellantis' new CEO Antonio Filosa took over, when the group was helmed by Chairperson John Elkann.

 

One of Mr. Elkann's top priorities in selecting a new CEO candidate was the viability of the Franco-Italian joint venture's 14 brands, including Chrysler, Peugeot, Jeep and Alpha Coefficient Romeo.

 

In early April, Stellantis hired McKinsey, a consultancy, to analyse the impact of US tariffs on Maserati and alpha coefficient Romeo and assess their future strategies. Stellantis said at the time that it was "fully committed to both brands".

However, two sources told Reuters that one of the options McKinsey is evaluating for Stellantis includes divesting its only luxury brand, Maserati, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

One of the people said Stellantis was gradually realising that it had too many brands, making it difficult to devote sufficient resources to each one. "The company needs to'set priorities'," the person said.

A second source said that while Stellantis had not authorised McKinsey to find a buyer for Maserati, its advisers were tasked with assessing "all possible options", including a potential sale, saying anything was possible.

A Stellantis spokesperson said: "Maserati is not for sale with all due respect." McKinsey declined to comment.

 

According to another source, opinions are divided within the Stellantis board about Maserati's future.

Some board members believe that the company does not currently have the resources and capabilities to successfully rebuild Maserati and should therefore consider selling it, while others believe that Maserati still has value and that selling the only luxury brand would be a major blow to Stellantis' reputation.

Reuters said in a report that Chinese automakers may be interested in acquiring European car brands to accelerate their expansion in the European market, as these brands still lack consumer brand recognition in the region. This would be similar to SAIC's acquisition of MG in 2007 or Geely's acquisition of Volvo in 2010.

 

Maserati is facing brand scrutiny at a time when it is trying to tackle a series of major industry challenges. Chinese brands are eating away at European market share with their affordable, technology-leading products. Stellantis, like other European carmakers, is grappling with the steep import tariffs recently imposed by US President Donald Trump, which have had a particular impact on high-priced brands like Maserati that rely heavily on imports and sell relatively small volumes.

Unlike Stellantis' Dodge, Jeep, and Chrysler brands, all Maserati models in the U.S. market are imported from Italy and do not have a localized production base in North America.

The news is not the first time Maserati has been rumored to be up for sale. Natalie Knight, Stellantis' former chief financial officer, suggested last year that the Trident-branded brand might exit the 14-brand car group, but the claim was later denied.

 

The former chief executive of Stellantis resigned in December over the company's poor performance in the US market, and he refused to sell any brands during his tenure. Before his resignation, Mr. Tang had said Maserati's problems were not with the product itself. He blamed poor marketing and unclear brand positioning. But some investors and analysts believe that streamlining the brand portfolio would help improve Stellantis' profit margins. Stellantis shares have lost two-thirds of their value since March.

Maserati CEO Santo Ficili said this month that a brand revitalization plan will be officially launched after new CEO Antonio Filosa takes over on June 23.

In an interview with Reuters on June 5, he not only denied rumours that Stellantis would sell Maserati, but also expressed optimism about the future of the brand, saying Filosa would support plans, including the launch of a new model. "We have a clear idea of the future direction and hope to be ready as soon as possible," he said. "Let's wait until Antonio officially takes over and see what the next step is."

 

Maserati's performance has been lackluster. Santo Fichli says about 35-40 per cent of its customers come from the US. In 2024, Maserati's sales fell by more than half year-on-year, selling just 11,300 cars, of which 4,819 were sold in the US, and recording an adjusted operating loss of €260 million for the year.

The outlook for 2025 is also not optimistic. As of March, the Italian high-end brand's sales have fallen by 48% compared to the first three months of 2024.

The brand has no plans to launch a new model, as its last round of business development planning has been halted by Stellantis. In an earnings call in February, Stellantis CFO Doug Ostermann confirmed that the 1.50 billion euro investment in Maserati had been written off. This will result in "certain projects being cancelled prior to launch," according to financial documents.

Although no specific details of these projects have been released, according to foreign media "Autocar", the cancelled projects are expected to include the multi-promised pure electric MC20 Folgore.

At the time, Mr. Ostermann said the group needed to reassess the timetable for the launch of Maserati products. "We must recognise the market dynamics of the business, particularly in China, and our expectations for the pace of the electrification transition in the luxury market," he said.

Maserati has discontinued two of its best-selling models, the Ghibli and the Levante, but its replacements won't be available until 2028 and 2027, respectively, meaning that the Grecale, which costs about $80,000, is the only SUV left for Maserati today amid a continuing consumer trend toward SUVs.

 

Maserati also sells the Gran Turismo sports car and the MC20 supercar. However, both cars lack broad appeal and are not enough to support the survival of the entire brand. Last year, Tang Weishi, then CEO of Stellantis, admitted that Maserati was "in the red".

While the launch of successor models from Geberit and Levante may help turn around the brand's sales and financial prospects, the luxury car market is fiercely competitive. Alpha coefficient Romeo, another Italian brand owned by Stellantis, is adjusting its product line so that it cannot launch products that are at odds with Maserati. That leaves both with limited room to grow.

 

For the coverage, some industry practitioners expressed their views on the matter.

 

He said that Stellantis' current difficulties actually reveal the deeper realities facing the entire automotive industry in terms of brand management, regional market dynamics, and manufacturing excellence.

In the current competitive and economic climate, it is no longer sustainable to maintain 14 independent brands. Investors and analysts generally agree that a streamlined and integrated brand portfolio will enable Stellantis to focus investment, marketing and R & D resources on core brands, thereby enhancing profitability. Today's automotive economy has undergone a fundamental shift: only with a clear market position and sustainable profits can companies justify investing heavily in different design languages, marketing strategies, distribution networks and customer experiences.

The brand presence is highly regional, creating both opportunity and complexity. Peugeot and Citroe ̈ n still dominate the French market, while Jeep and RAM have a strong presence in North America. By contrast, brands such as α coefficient Romeo, DS and Lancia have little to gain at the high end of Europe, a key market for the electrification transition. This geographic fragmentation of brand influence means that the traditional global unified brand strategy is no longer effective, and should be replaced by a regionally optimal strategy - leveraging local brand equity while achieving operational efficiency.

 

The spotlight on Maserati is a re-examination of Stellantis' entire portfolio optimisation. In the past, Maserati was essentially Chrysler with Ferrari engines, a reality that undermined the brand's luxury positioning.

Tang Weishi, the former CEO, blamed Maserati's recent setbacks on a failed marketing strategy, but the root of the problem was a lack of operational capabilities. The future belongs to automakers that master advanced manufacturing processes and fast product development cycles. Sustainable competitive advantage comes from operational excellence, not brand sentiment.

Stellantis' situation, he points out, is not just a case, but a harbinger of an industry-wide restructuring trend. As electrification and intelligence reshape the industry competition landscape, only those companies that can efficiently allocate resources and maintain market relevance can survive. Future success will depend on decisive strategic execution. Abandoning brand sentiment and turning to operational excellence, promoting localization, strategic cooperation, brand streamlining and engineering integration - these are the cornerstones of success in the automotive industry in the next decade.