Stellantis has quietly transformed its most ambitious European electric vehicle project into a lesson in caution. According to Italpassion, the company has closed its Cassino plant in Italy and essentially paused three important models after realising that customers, regulators, and its own product plans were no longer aligned.
Cassino Idled, Three Nameplates In Limbo
Cassino currently builds the Alfa Romeo Giulia, Alfa Romeo Stelvio, and Maserati Grecale. All three are still on sale, but the factory that assembles them has been idled for weeks, with production repeatedly extended “temporarily” halted because there simply are not enough orders to justify running the lines. Volumes have sunk into the low tens of thousands per year in a plant designed to build far more.
Behind the scenes, the bigger problem is what comes next, as the next-generation Giulia and Stelvio were engineered as EV-only models on the STLA Large platform, with no provision for hybrid or gas engines. That made sense on paper when Europe looked ready to stamp out internal combustion on a fixed timetable. Now, with EV demand cooling and buyers clinging to flexible powertrains, Stellantis is scrambling to rework those cars to accept gasoline, hybrid, and battery-electric setups on the same architecture.
That engineering U-turn has delayed the new Alfa pair until at least 2027 and pushed further Maserati derivatives back as well. In the meantime, the current Giulia and Stelvio have to stay in production longer than planned, even as the plant that builds them runs well below capacity.
Politics, Rules, And A Moving Goalpost
Cassino is also collateral damage in a political and regulatory fight. Stellantis has become one of the loudest voices in Europe arguing that the EU overcooked its emissions targets and timelines.
At the same time, Stellantis has shown it will play hardball with governments when factory subsidies and EV incentives are on the line. That dispute showed how dependent big EV investments have become on public money and how quickly those plans can wobble when the underlying assumptions change.
And in Washington, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares is one of the executives due to appear alongside Ford and GM chiefs as Congress digs into car prices, and the pace of electrification.
A Reset, Not A Retreat
Inside Stellantis, the line is that this is a reset, not a retreat. Future Alfas and Maseratis on STLA Large will still offer pure EV variants. They just will not be only EVs anymore. The company insists it is “listening to the market” by keeping gasoline and hybrid options alive longer, especially in segments where charging infrastructure or pricing makes full EVs a tough sell.
For the workers at Cassino and for fans of Alfa and Maserati, the hope is that this more flexible plan actually arrives in time to save the plant from more than temporary downtime.