Antonio Filosa, Stellantis’s new CEO (which oversees Peugeot, Citroën, Opel, Fiat, Chrysler and Jeep), urged the European Commission to take urgent action to protect the European auto industry from rising Chinese competition. He called current EU emissions targets “unrealistic” and said excessive regulation is driving up costs for small cars, collapsing volumes and endangering the sector. Filosa made the remarks in interviews ahead of the IAA Munich show; he became CEO in June and must turn around Stellantis, which faces U.S. tariffs, EU overcapacity, and competition from low-cost Chinese brands. Other industry leaders (including John Elkann, Luca de Meo and BMW’s Oliver Zipse) have made similar warnings about Europe’s emissions rules and the risk of the industry shrinking.

Small-car volumes and overall sales in Europe have fallen in recent years — EU passenger car registrations dropped from about 15.6 million in 2019 to roughly 13 million annually in 2022–2024 as electrification costs and regulation rose. Stellantis and other OEMs have announced plant slowdowns, capacity cuts or restructuring measures affecting tens of thousands of jobs across Europe. Chinese brands have increased European market share noticeably, selling hundreds of thousands of low-cost vehicles in recent model years and pressuring prices. Together these trends have already reduced industry revenues by billions of euros annually and put tens of thousands of manufacturing and supplier jobs at immediate risk, with wider employment impacts reported across dealerships and services.