16:33 07-01-2026

Cassino idled as Stellantis delays Alfa Giulia/Stelvio and pivots to mixed powertrains

Stellantis has effectively hit pause on one of its key Italian assets: the Cassino plant, which builds the Alfa Romeo Giulia and Stelvio as well as the Maserati Grecale, has been idled due to a shortage of orders. The cars are still on sale, but a facility designed for far greater volumes is running well below capacity—and this is less about a bad month and more about strategy.

The core issue isn’t the current lineup so much as their successors. The next generations of Giulia and Stelvio were engineered as fully electric on the STLA Large platform, without initial provisions for hybrids or gasoline power. When the market cooled on EVs faster than expected and the regulatory picture grew less predictable, Stellantis had to make an expensive pivot: rework future Alfas and related Maseratis so gasoline, hybrid, and electric versions could coexist on a single architecture. It reads like a pragmatic recalibration, aligning product plans with what buyers are actually choosing today.

The price of that pivot is time. According to industry publications, the updated Giulia and Stelvio are no longer expected before 2027, with Maserati derivatives pushed even further out. As a result, the current models will remain on the line longer than planned, yet the line itself is idling because demand can’t support the plant’s natural rhythm.

Inside the company, this is described as a reboot rather than a retreat: EV versions will stay, they simply won’t be the only option. In this context, Cassino has become a clear case study in how quickly an all-out shift to electric can backfire when plans outpace real demand and infrastructure.