Stellantis axes 'eyes off the road' autonomous driving system – report

Stellantis has reportedly killed plans to offer its AutoDrive Level 3 autonomous driving system in the company’s vehicles due to concerns about cost, technical issues, and market takeup.

Three sources have told Reuters the AutoDrive L3 self-driving system has been put on hold, and is not expected to be offered to customers. That’s quite a reversal considering the automaker was talking up the system as recently as February 2025.

In an emailed response to the news agency, the automaker did not confirm or deny the sources’ assertions, but said Level 3 autonomous driving system “currently [has] limited market demand, so this has not been launched, but the technology is available and ready to be deployed”.

When a Level 3 autonomous driving system is engaged, the vehicle can steer, brake and accelerate by itself without the driver needing to pay attention to what’s happening, potentially freeing them to watch a movie, play a game, do work or read a book. They do, however, need to stay awake and alert, just in case the car encounters a situation it can’t handle or enters an area it can’t operate in.

With Level 3 vehicles, the responsibility for safe operation shifts to the car’s manufacturer whenever the vehicle is in self-driving mode.

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If the Reuters report is correct, this is just the latest about-face executed by the company since the departure of CEO Carlos Tavares in late 2024, and his eventual replacement by quality chief Antonio Filosa in June this year.

The French-Italian-American automaker – which owns Peugeot, Citroen, Opel/Vauxhal, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Chrysler and other brands – re-instated the Hemi V8 to its Ram pickup truck in June, and ended its hydrogen fuel-cell development program in July.

Under its former CEO, Stellantis accelerated the in-house development of various software systems for its next-generation vehicles, including the Level 3 AutoDrive system, SmartCockpit infotainment, and the STLA Brain electrical architecture.

The SmartCockpit system was been jointly developed by Stellantis and Amazon, but that has also reportedly been shelved, with the automaker now preferring to use the Android Automotive operating system instead.

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