Stellantis rules out a Maserati sale and a brand split, says Filosa

Stellantis has no plans to sell Maserati, chief executive Antonio Filosa said at the 2026 Paris Motor Show, and the group will not split its European and American brands either. Asked directly about a sale of the struggling Italian marque, Filosa told Bloomberg Television: 'Not at all.'

The comments are the clearest statement yet on the Trident's future, after months of speculation that Stellantis might offload the loss-making luxury brand. Filosa dismissed a separate idea, floated during the group's recent troubles, of separating the European marques from the American ones, calling it 'not plausible at all.'

Why the sale rumours kept coming

Speculation about Maserati's ownership has been persistent, and for understandable reasons. The brand has struggled with declining sales and questions about its long-term future, putting the fabled Italian marque under increasing pressure. Stellantis has explored ways to improve its prospects, including discussions with potential partners, but the company says that is not the same as preparing a sale.

The bigger question now is whether Stellantis can give Maserati a clearer direction and the products it needs to regain momentum in an increasingly competitive market.

Closer ties with Alfa Romeo

One route already hinted at is tighter cooperation between Maserati and Alfa Romeo. The idea is to build on their shared heritage and premium positioning while cutting development costs and lead times through shared engineering.

Both brands face an uphill battle in a crowded luxury market, so pooling resources could let Stellantis get more from its investment without blurring the two marques' distinct identities. For Maserati, that cooperation could prove decisive as it tries to recover without changing hands.

Fourteen brands, five priorities

Filosa was equally firm on the structure of the group itself. Stellantis benefits from developing key technologies globally rather than running its regional divisions as separate businesses, he argued, with that shared approach covering everything from powertrains to platforms.

The European brands, Fiat, Peugeot, Citroën, Opel/Vauxhall, Lancia, DS Automobiles, Abarth, Alfa Romeo and Maserati, operate alongside Jeep, Ram, Dodge and Chrysler. Filosa insists all 14 nameplates have a role, though keeping them under one roof does not mean equal investment. Stellantis is reviewing how it allocates spending, particularly where several brands chase the same customers, and its updated strategy prioritises five areas: Jeep, Ram, Peugeot, Fiat and the Pro One commercial vehicle business.

That leaves nine brands outside the priority list, Maserati among them, competing for attention and capital. The challenge is to maximise shared development costs without turning the lineup into a set of rebadged cars, a balancing act that grows more important as Chinese automakers ramp up competition in Europe and elsewhere.

Partnerships and the road back to profit

Stellantis is also pursuing partnerships to use its manufacturing capacity better. Collaborations with Chinese automakers Leapmotor and Dongfeng could help fill underused European plants without closures, while expanding access to electrification technology.

The financial picture explains the urgency. The group posted a €22.3 billion net loss in 2025 and its shares have come under heavy pressure this year. Filosa told Bloomberg the group has already passed the point of returning to profitability, but the real test is turning that confidence into sustained financial improvement.

For now the message from the top is unambiguous: Maserati stays, the European and American brands stay together, and Stellantis will try to make the whole group work as one.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened a formal investigation into why upper grille deflectors keep detaching from GMC Sierra 1500 pickups, sometimes while the truck is moving. The probe, logged as RQ26003, was opened on October 9, 2026 and covers an estimated 535,639 trucks from the 2022 through 2024 model years.

The trigger was 118 complaints describing the part separating during normal driving. Notably, 21 of those complaints involve trucks that had already been through recall 25V-060, the earlier repair campaign meant to fix exactly this problem.

The trucks under scrutiny carry chrome grille deflectors tied to the 2022 model-year mid-cycle update. Non-chrome grilles use a different design and have not shown the same pattern of complaints, which narrows the population the agency is focused on.

Reported effects include cracked windshields and drivers swerving or braking suddenly to avoid a part coming loose on the road. NHTSA has not tied any crash, injury or fatality to the grille-deflector complaints reviewed so far.

A second look at an earlier fix

This is not the first time GM has addressed the issue. Recall 25V-060 covered certain 2022 Sierra trucks with chrome grille deflectors built between November 9, 2021 and September 29, 2022, with dealers paid to reinforce attachment tension points at the front of the truck.

The 21 complaints from repaired trucks are what is driving the new investigation, because they raise the question of whether the original fix actually solved the attachment problem it targeted. The agency's job now is to determine whether a safety defect exists and whether the earlier repair was adequate.

An open recall query is a review stage, distinct from a formal defect finding or a new recall order. GM has not announced an expanded recall tied to this review.

What GM says

GM spokesperson Bill Grotz said customer safety and satisfaction remain the company's highest priorities, adding that GM continues cooperating with the agency's evaluation.

The confirmed recalled population so far is narrower than the 535,639 trucks under evaluation, since the earlier recall covered a specific build window on 2022 trucks. The gap between those two figures is where an expanded recall would land if NHTSA finds the earlier repair was insufficient.

What Sierra owners should do

Owners of 2022 through 2024 Sierra 1500 trucks with chrome grille deflectors, including those already repaired under 25V-060, can enter their vehicle identification number on NHTSA's recall lookup site and then contact a GMC dealer for the latest guidance as the case develops.

For buyers shopping used Sierras from these years, the chrome-deflector detail is worth checking before purchase, since the complaint pattern is specific to that design. A VIN check against both the existing recall and the open query is the practical first step.