Stellantis in Talks with Nissan to Acquire Marelli Assets for Bankruptcy Restructuring

Stellantis and Nissan are negotiating to acquire portions of Marelli Holdings’ assets. Marelli is currently undergoing bankruptcy protection and restructuring proceedings under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. According to informed sources, Stellantis plans to acquire Marelli’s suspension business in Italy and other countries, while Nissan intends to take over its automotive cockpit business in Japan. Marelli was formed in 2019 through the merger of Italy’s Magneti Marelli and Japan’s Calsonic Kansei, led by private equity firm KKR. Magneti Marelli was formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), a predecessor of Stellantis, while Calsonic Kansei had long supplied components to Nissan. Marelli specializes in automotive interiors, air-conditioning systems, automotive electronics, lighting, and electric motors, operating more than 150 manufacturing facilities worldwide with over 40,000 employees. Its headquarters is located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. Marelli filed for bankruptcy protection primarily due to declining sales from its key customers—Stellantis and Nissan—in major markets, compounded by U.S. tariff policies and lingering supply chain disruptions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, all of which severely deteriorated its financial performance. In recent years, Stellantis has pursued aggressive cost-cutting measures and shifted production capacity to lower-cost regions, further reducing orders placed with Marelli. The asset sale forms part of Marelli’s broader restructuring plan, and future purchase commitments from Stellantis and Nissan are seen as critical to the successful completion of its bankruptcy reorganization. Currently, spokespeople for both Stellantis and Marelli declined to comment, and Nissan did not respond to related inquiries. In April this year, Marelli appointed Frederick Henderson as interim CEO.