Automaker Stellantis has stopped stocking combustion-only vehicles in 14 US states due to emissions guidelines set by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) that exceed nationwide standards. From now on, it will only stock electric vehicles.
The 14 CARB states are Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington. The 14 CARB states account for 36 percent of the US population. Furthermore, four additional states are expected to adopt similar regulations in the near future.
Customers in the 14 states can still order gasoline-powered vehicles from Stellantis on special request. The change in allocation rules began about two months ago.
Brian Maas, the president of the California New Car Dealers Association, expressed surprise that Stellantis is complying with CARB rules now instead of waiting for 2026, when the rules will formally take effect. He anticipates that people in the affected states will travel to neighboring states like Nevada and Arizona to purchase combustion engine vehicles. Maas and other experts feel that the decision will have a significant negative impact on Stellantis’s sales.
Stellantis’s decision will also have a big impact on its advertising strategy, as it is unlikely to continue advertising models that aren’t displayed in its dealerships. Stellantis may be embracing CARB so early due to an effort to rehabilitate its reputation. The company paid $235.5 million in fines in 2018 and 2019 for failing to meet fuel economy requirements.
Stay tuned to find out if the expected hit to Stellantis’s sales occurs.
