Stellantis announced the suspension of the production of the Dodge Hornet in the establishment of Pomigliano arc in Campania.
The stop to the production will be implemented starting from Model Year 2026. The very heavy decision arrives in an already difficult moment for Stellantis and for employment.
Dodge Hornet away from the Stellantis plant in Pomigliano
To push towards the choice was the increase in duties customs imposed by the United States to the imported European cars: a 25% duty, already in force, which could rise to 30% according to the latest threats of Donald Trump. In such a context, exporting to the USA a vehicle produced in Italy becomes economically disadvantageous.
But there are not only the duties that weigh: also the depreciation of dollardescended by over -5.5% in recent months, has burdened the economic balance of the entire operation. The result was a collapse of -90% in the production of Hornet in the first 6 months of 2025 compared to the same period of 2024, with only 1,360 specimens built e halved sales In the United States (-52%, with just 1,539 units delivered in the second quarter).
The Stellantis website of Pomigliano d’Arco, one of the Italian group pillars, which covers about 60% of national production, now sees drastically reducing its business. The factory, already strongly dependent on the production of the Panda, risks a direct impact both in terms of employment and on the entire linked industrial chain: from components to logistics, to the technological induct.
Minister Urso had promised, two years ago, a million vehicles produced annually in Italy. But in the first 6 months of 2025, all Italian plants (Mirafiori, Cassino, Melfi and Pomigliano) have scored just 125,000 units: a figure that reflects the deep crisis of national automotive manufacture.
Stellantis turns off the hydrogen program
But the suspension of Hornet is not the only sign of alarm: the CEO of Stellantis, Antonio Filosa, has also announced the stop to the hydrogen development program for light commercial vehicles. The reason: the absence of profitable perspectives in the medium term.
Stellantis on hydrogen is a choice in contrast to other players in the sector such as Toyota, Hyundai and BMW, which net of difficulties continue to invest in hydrogen as a sustainable alternative to electrical batteries, on which China is currently unbeatable. Stellantis, on the other hand, has decided to reorient the staff (about a hundred employees) towards other projects. In fact, Stellantis aims at more immediate and profitable solutions, especially in the North American market.
The Stellantis case may not be isolated, with the protectionist line promoted by Donald Trump, whose explicit message is “built in America to get around the duties”. Trump aims, among other things, to use duties to break down unemployment in the USA. A strategy that is putting in crisis productive logic for decades based on relocation.
With a scholarship that fell to 25 billion euros14 less than the value of Stellantis at the time of its birth in 2021, the group led by Filosa now tries to strengthen its productive presence directly in the United States. At the expense of industry and work in Italy.
Stellantis invests in Morocco
But that’s not all: Stellantis also decided to double the production in Morocco By 2030 with a maxi-investment from 1.2 billion euro. The expansion of the Kenitra plant will bring 3,100 new jobs for the production of Fiat, Citroen and Opel electric vehicles.
