Stellantis Might Break Up Maserati And Alfa Romeo As Tariffs Crush Their Prospects

Alfa Romeo and Maserati seem like perfect partners, two sporting Italian brands steeped in heritage, one more upscale than the other. They ought to work in synergy like VW and Audi, but neither was working as it should in 2024 and Trump’s 25 percent tariffs might push Stellantis to go for the nuclear option in 2025: split the pair and jettison Maserati.

Granted, a sell-off is more of a long-term option, but it’s definitely on the table according to a report which claims Stellantis has hired business trouble shooters McKinsey & Co. to help produce a strategy for the underperforming pair.

More: Stellantis Pulls The Plug On Maserati’s Future After Cancelling $1.6B Investment

McKinsey has been asked by Stellantis chairman John Elkann to consider multiple options that include partnering with other automakers to access new technology, industry sources told Bloomberg. Several Asian automakers – the report doesn’t specify, but you can bet they’re Chinese – have expressed an interest, the website reports, though it also quotes Maserati Chief Executive Officer Santo Ficili telling media last month that Elkann wouldn’t sell to China.

Both brands were down in 2024, Alfa’s sales falling by around 10-15 percent to circa-65,000 units based on our intel (Alfa won’t supply exact figures), and Maserati’s volumes halving to a pathetic 11,300, losing it €260 million ($285 million) in the process. But what’s deeply troubling is that 35-40 percent of Maserati’s sales were in the US, Bloomberg reports.

Because neither brand has a production facility in North America all of their models are subject to the new 25 percent import tariffs. If buyers didn’t want one before, they’re hardly going to be more enthusiastic presented with an even bigger sticker.

The Italian duo aren’t the only brands in the Stellantis family causing the company a headache. The group itself is in the doo-doo, its North American sales having dropped 25 percent and net profits fallen by 70 percent last year. Q1’s numbers were also a disaster and with several of the automaker’s American-brand products built in Canada and Mexico, its exposure to Trump’s tariffs goes beyond Alfa and Maserati.

Almost immediately after the tariffs were confirmed last week Stellantis announced it was temporarily laying off 5,400 in the US, Canada and Mexico and pausing production at plants in Canada and Mexico for up to a month.

So here’s the question: could a Chinese—or maybe even a Japanese or Korean—automaker actually do a better job running Maserati, and maybe even Alfa Romeo, than Stellantis has? Drop a comment and let us know what you think.

Image credits: Stellantis, BMW117/Wikimedia Commons, HtcHnm

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