Stellantis, the global automotive giant behind such iconic brands as Jeep, Dodge, Chrysler, and Ram, delivered a jarring announcement on February 26, 2026: for the first time in 15 years, no profit-sharing checks will be issued to its UAW-represented U.S. employees for the 2025 calendar year. This abrupt reversal marks a dramatic shift from just a couple of years ago, when workers took home record bonuses. The news, confirmed by Stellantis and widely reported by outlets including Automotive News, Detroit Free Press, and FOX 2 Detroit, has sent ripples across the auto industry and among the more than 43,000 workers affected.
To put the scale of the change in perspective, Stellantis UAW workers received $13,860 each in 2023 and $3,780 in early 2025 for the prior year’s performance. Now, the payout is $0—something not seen since 2011, when the company was still recovering from the global financial crisis and its own bankruptcy woes. According to Automotive News, the average payout for UAW workers across the Detroit Three automakers in 2026 is about $6,200, nearly 40 percent lower than the previous year’s average of almost $10,000. But Stellantis workers will see nothing at all.
What happened? Stellantis posted its first-ever annual loss as a merged entity, reporting a staggering $26.4 billion loss for 2025. Net revenues were down 2% compared to 2024, and the company’s North American profit margin plummeted to negative 3.1%, a far cry from the 4.2% margin in 2024 and the robust 15.4% seen in 2023, according to The Detroit News. The profit-sharing formula, negotiated in the 2023 UAW collective bargaining agreement, pays $900 per 1% of North American profit margin, based on the number of hours an employee worked. With a negative margin, the math was simple—no profit, no sharing.
Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa offered a frank assessment in a company statement: “Our 2025 full year results reflect the cost of over-estimating the pace of the energy transition and of the need to reset our business around our customers’ freedom to choose from the full range of electric, hybrid and internal combustion technologies.” He added, “In the second half of the year we began to see initial, positive signs of progress with the early results of our drive to improve quality, strong execution of the launches of our new product wave and a return to top line growth. In 2026 our focus will be on continuing to close the execution gaps of the past, adding further momentum to our return to profitable growth.”
The company’s pivot away from aggressive electric vehicle (EV) production played a central role in its financial woes. Stellantis reported a $26.3 billion loss largely due to scaling down its EV ambitions, a move that CEO Filosa described as a necessary “business reset.” According to Local 4, the company admitted it had overestimated the pace of the energy transition, leading to costly miscalculations. Product mix issues, falling U.S. vehicle sales for a seventh consecutive year, high warranty costs, increased vehicle incentive spending, and the burden of U.S. tariffs under President Donald Trump all contributed to the dismal results.
While Stellantis workers face a payout drought, their counterparts at Ford and General Motors will still see profit-sharing checks, albeit smaller than in previous years. Ford is issuing about $6,780 to its 56,300 eligible workers, and GM is distributing up to $10,500 to more than 47,000 employees for their 2025 performance. Both payouts are down from last year, but they stand in stark contrast to the zero-dollar checks at Stellantis.
The United Auto Workers union, which represents Stellantis’ hourly workforce, did not mince words in its response. UAW President Shawn Fain slammed the automaker’s leadership, declaring, “It’s a damn shame that autoworkers continue to pay the price for horrible mismanagement at Stellantis. We sounded the alarm on disgraced CEO Carlos Tavares and have been pushing the company to stop throwing money away to Wall Street and instead invest in the plants, products, and people that make this company run. In 2024 alone, Stellantis spent $8.3 billion on Wall Street payouts. This is the same old story in America that happens all too often where the profits are being shared, but not with the people who build the product. We will continue to push as a union for better management at Stellantis so autoworkers can get back to earning their fair share.” (FOX 2 Detroit)
Stellantis, for its part, maintains that the decision was dictated by the terms of its 2023 collective bargaining agreement. “As the North America results did not meet the minimum thresholds defined in the 2023 UAW collective bargaining agreement, there will be no profit sharing paid to UAW-represented employees for 2025,” said spokesperson Jodi Tinson, echoing the company’s official stance in multiple outlets. The company stressed that the profit-sharing calculation excludes special one-time charges, such as the $26 billion write-down related to its EV pivot, but even after those adjustments, the profit margin was still negative—down $2.2 billion, a 3% drop.
The contrast with recent years is striking. In 2022, Stellantis workers received $14,760 each in profit-sharing, and in 2023, $13,860. Even last year’s $3,780 payout, though a 73% decrease from 2023, was at least something. Now, for 2025, nothing.
For many workers, these profit-sharing checks are not just a bonus—they’re a crucial part of their annual compensation, often relied upon for major expenses or to offset the cost of living. The abrupt disappearance of this income has left many frustrated and worried about the future. The pain is compounded by the knowledge that, while workers go without, Stellantis still managed to spend billions on Wall Street payouts in 2024, as UAW President Fain pointed out.
Looking ahead, Stellantis insists it is taking decisive action to right the ship. The company has pointed to moves like reintroducing the HEMI® V8 engines in the Ram 1500 and a renewed focus on customer choice as steps toward restoring profitability. “We are confident that the decisive actions the company has already taken to put the customer at the center of everything we do… will support profitable growth and put us on a better path for a stronger, more successful 2026,” the company said in its official statement.
The road to recovery, however, will not be easy. Stellantis faces persistent headwinds in the North American market, from shifting consumer preferences to tariff pressures and the lingering uncertainty of the EV transition. The company’s financial reset may lay the groundwork for a turnaround, but for now, thousands of its workers are left empty-handed, waiting to see if next year brings better news—or if this tough new reality is here to stay.
As the auto industry continues to evolve, Stellantis’ profit-sharing drought stands as a stark reminder of how quickly fortunes can change—and how decisions at the top ripple down to those on the factory floor.