Europe's battery strategy has suffered a major blow: ACC, the joint venture between Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz, and TotalEnergies, has officially abandoned plans to build gigafactories in Germany and Italy. The projects in Kaiserslautern and Termoli, already frozen since 2024, have been deemed economically unviable.

Union representatives confirmed that both plants are "permanently shelved." Officially, the reason cited is weak growth in electric vehicle demand—just 13.8% in 2025, which falls short of expectations and is now being used to justify cutting investments.

ACC had planned three factories in Europe: the French site is operational, but expansion into key EU industrial regions has been scrapped. This comes as Stellantis endures a difficult financial year, marked by a 22.2 billion euro write-down on its EV projects, canceled dividends, and plans to review and scale back future electric vehicle initiatives. For Italy, the decision is particularly painful: unions are demanding compensatory projects, though Stellantis has so far offered only vague promises of local transmission production.

ACC's withdrawal highlights Europe's strategic weakness compared to China, where battery costs and technological development remain unmatched. While the EU debates subsidies and protectionism, Chinese brands are gaining ground in the market with cheaper, more advanced solutions.

Even with rising EV sales, Europe is losing industrial momentum. Without its own gigafactories, the continent's automotive sector cannot stay competitive. The French ACC site will continue to operate, but the EU's "battery independence" plan is effectively unraveling.