Feb 10 (Reuters) – Stellantis NV is looking to exit its U.S. battery joint venture with South Korea’s Samsung SDI Co. as the automaker scales back its electric-vehicle ambitions, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Stellantis and Samsung SDI did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
The report comes after Stellantis announced more than $26.5 billion in writedowns last week, hammering its shares as traditional automakers pay the price of misjudging the switch to cleaner driving.
Stellantis has been exploring ways to divest from the venture, but no final decision has been made, the report said, adding that an exit could be costly for Stellantis and a lengthy process, and that Stellantis could sell its stake to a third party.
“We continue to have ongoing collaborative discussions with Samsung on the future of our StarPlus Energy JV,” Stellantis said in an emailed statement to Bloomberg News.
(Reporting by Disha Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
