Stellantis has agreed to sell an engine-building subsidiary to a group of private investors as part of a wider initiative to refocus its holdings on the electric vehicle sector. VM Motori, headquartered in Cento, Italy, designs and manufactures diesel engines for industrial, marine, and stationary uses.
Although electric vehicle demand has slowed in the U.S., the European EV market grew by 24.9% year-over-year during January-June 2025. Now, Stellantis is reemphasizing its electric product development, thus making VM Motori redundant.
Stellantis previously sought to achieve 100% battery-electric vehicle sales in Europe by 2030, and 50% BEV sales in the U.S. by that date. Now, the automaker is seeking to implement “multi-energy” options, including hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles as well as BEVs. It’s also adopting a dual-chemistry battery strategy, new partnerships for charging networks, and more new models in development.
The buyer for VM Motori is a private-equity group, Azzurra Capital, that also controls Marval SpA, a precision machining business producing engine parts for offroad and commercial vehicles, including cylinder heads, engine blocks, gears, and components for brake and suspension systems.
Neither Stellantis nor the buyer revealed the financial terms of the sale, which will be completed by the end of this year.
VM Motori was established nearly 80 years ago, and formerly supplied gasoline and diesel engines for Chrysler and General Motors vehicles, among other automakers’ models. It has produced diesel engines exclusively for industrial and marine markets since 2022.
Today, VM Motori has 350 employees. According to remarks by Marval CEO Vincenzo Nunziata, the current operations will continue with an eye to expansion.
