A 12-month period or so has been at Stellantis, where the automaker reversed a number of decisions taken during the reign of its former CEO Carlos Tavares.
Since his departure in late 2024, the French-Italian-American automaker has brought back V8 Hemi engines to the Ram 1500 range, axed its Chrysler and Jeep plug-in hybrids, and cancelled the long-delayed electric version of the Ram 1500 pickup.
In Europe it has shoehorned a mild-hybrid drivetrain into the current-generation Fiat 500, which was initially designed to be an electric-only model.
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Now Stellantis has quietly added some diesel engine options back to its sprawling European range.
Analysis by Reuters has revealed diesel drivetrains have been returned to the Peugeot 308 and DS 4 small cars, as well as the Opel Combo, Peugeot Rifter, and Citroen Berlingo van. It has also launched a diesel option for the van-based Opel Zafira people mover.
Stellantis said in a statement ‘We have decided to keep diesel engines on our product portfolio and in some cases – to increase our powertrain offer. And that’s why we focus on customer demand at Stellantis and want to grow. – ’.
Alfa Romeo Stelvio
The automaker also confirmed that “in response to sustained customer demand” it will continue to produce diesel versions of the Alfa Romeo Tonale and Stelvio SUVs, and Giulia sedan, as well as the DS 7 SUV.
While diesel engines were Europe’s preferred drivetrain not long ago, Volkswagen’S Dieselgate emissions testing affair – which first appeared in the public consciousness in late 2015 – marked an early period of rapid decline for oil-burners.
| Fuel type | 2015 share | 2025 share |
| — | — | — |
| Diesel | 51.6% | 8.9% |
| Petrol | 43.7% | 26.6% |
| Hybrid | 1.7% | 34.5% |
| Other (eg. LPG, E85) | 1.6% | 3.3% |
| Electric | 1.4% | 17.4% |
| Plug-in Hybrid | – | 9.4% |
Numbers from CarGurus citing UK diesel model numbers are also down, according to the newswire ‘The number of diesel models in the UK has dropped from 167 in 2020 to 57 last year. The Stellantis stable had only four of those numbers; back in 2020 the brands that now make up StellAntis offered 26 diesel models.
Will it be interesting to see how much growth Stellantis will generate by reintroducing diesel options in its lineup, but this is one of the market segment where Chinese manufacturers don’t have passenger car offerings; most of their work focused on pure EVs, plug-in hybrids and extended-range evs.
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Thanks for reading First it was V8s now Stellantis is bringing back diesel engines in Europe
