Stellantis taps Toyota, Bosch suppliers for hybrid tech for Jeep

DETROIT — Jeep maker Stellantis is leaning on technologies from automotive suppliers for its newest hybrid SUVs as the market for more fuel-efficient vehicles is expected to continue growing, CNBC has learned.

The trans-Atlantic automaker’s first-ever Jeep hybrid SUV for North America, its recently launched Cherokee, features a system from a Toyota-backed company called Blue Nexus, while its upcoming extended-range electric vehicles, or EREVs, are utilizing major technologies from Bosch, the world’s largest automotive supplier.

It’s not uncommon for automakers to use components from suppliers, but it’s less common for key systems or technologies, especially ones pioneered by a competitor like Toyota.

But Stellantis’ push is a prime example of broader market shifts away from all-electric vehicles and a way carmakers can more quickly get hybrid vehicles — which have been increasingly in demand even before oil prices spiked — to market, potentially at a lower capital cost. Many automakers have already lost billions of dollars due to massive spending on EVs, including developing and producing many of the technologies themselves.

The Jeep Cherokee, which is using Blue Nexus’ two-motor electric continuously variable hybrid transmission, and the upcoming Jeep Grand Wagoneer EREV are major launches for the automaker this year, especially as it attempts to regain market share in the U.S. Stellantis also plans to use the EREV system on its Ram pickup trucks.

“Electrification trends are pretty flat. Hybrid trends are absolutely growing,” Richard Cox, Jeep senior vice president of brand operations, told CNBC during a recent media event for the 2026 Cherokee. “So I think it was a big move in the right direction.”

Officials with Stellantis and the auto suppliers declined to comment on the tie-ups, but sources with each of the companies who weren’t permitted to speak publicly about the partnerships confirmed the details to CNBC.

Both hybrid systems operate differently. The Cherokee is more of a traditional hybrid vehicle, much like many of Toyota’s models, including the Prius.

The upcoming EREVs, meanwhile, drive like all-electric vehicles until an engine kicks in and works as a generator to power the vehicle’s electric motors when the vehicle’s battery is depleted. The engine powers the electric motors rather than the vehicle itself.

Both hybrid systems use Stellantis engines and have been integrated to meet the company’s own standards and driving dynamics, according to two sources with the automaker.

Both systems are also expected to significantly improve the fuel economy of the vehicles, including the Cherokee, that at 37 mpg combined is the most fuel-efficient, non-plug-in Jeep ever produced for the U.S.

“Consumers have been accepting of [full-hybrid electric vehicle] technology due to improvements in fuel economy, [a] wide portfolio of vehicles to choose from, and as they do not require lifestyle changes to benefit from the system,” said Eric Anderson, S&P Global Mobility associate director of Americas light vehicle powertrain forecasting.

Stellantis and other automakers invested billions of dollars in recent years to develop all-electric vehicles to meet federal regulations and unsubstantiated consumer demand, but most have pulled back on those investments and are eyeing hybrids to increase the fuel economy of vehicles and meet customers’ expectations.

Stellantis last month disclosed $26 billion in charges related to its EV plans, while its crosstown Detroit rivals also have announced write-downs. Ford Motor said it would record $19.5 billion in special charges as it pulls back on EV plans, while General Motors said its write-down would be $7.6 billion due to its EV changes.

Peter Tadros, president of Bosch’s North America power solutions, said the auto supplier has received an influx of inquiries into its hybrid systems as automakers look to pivot away from EVs and get to market quickly, with a reliable system and partner.

“There’s definitely a very big interest in these systems,” he told CNBC. “What’s been very apparent over the last few years is hybrid sales have increased regardless of what’s in the regulations, regardless of the political leaning. It’s been a consistent increase in the market.”

Led by Toyota, sales of hybrids in the U.S. have increased from 7.3% of the market in 2023 to 12.6% last year, according to S&P Global Mobility. That compares with sales of all-electric vehicles during that time rising from 7.5% to 8%. 

S&P Global Mobility expects hybrid electric vehicles to account for 18.4% of U.S. sales this year, while all-electric vehicles are forecast to be 7.1%.

Tadros declined to comment on any relationship with Stellantis, citing company policies, but said it’s common for Bosch to work closely and partner with automakers to launch new vehicles and products.

“There is no one silver bullet, and everybody’s coming at it from a different direction,” he said. “It depends on each [automaker], where their strength, where their capital equipment, is and how they best utilize it, and this is their starting point.”

Bosch offers what the industry refers to as “off the shelf” components, which the company then integrates with each automaker’s particular use case. Other than EREV, Bosch also offers components for more traditional hybrids as well as plug-in hybrid electric vehicles that operate similar to EREVs but drive more like traditional gas-powered vehicles rather than EVs.

Stellantis, more than some other automakers, has a history of teaming up with others in the industry to reduce research and development costs and capital. It has a long-standing partnership with German auto supplier ZF for transmissions and axle systems.

“They’ve often relied on supplier partners for things like that,” said Sam Abuelsamid, vice president of market research at communications and advisory firm Telemetry. “The benefit is, you can take something that has perhaps already been invested in, developed by a supplier. Take something off the shelf, you potentially bring it to market more quickly.”

Abuelsamid said downsides include the parts potentially not integrating perfectly with vehicle systems and a company not having control over the supply chain of key components.

In the 2000s, as the Toyota Prius was gaining traction in the U.S., the Japanese automaker cut deals with Ford and Nissan Motor to license or use certain hybrid technologies for their vehicles. But those deals and the vehicles that were produced from them, such as Ford Escape and Nissan Altima hybrids, did not last long.

Blue Nexus is a joint venture established in 2019 between Japanese automotive suppliers Denso and Aisin, which are both part of Toyota Motor’s parent group. It sells electrified components such as electronic axles, or e-axles, and hybrid systems such as the Toyota Hybrid System II, which includes the two-motor electric continuously variable hybrid transmission the Jeep Cherokee is using.

A representative from Blue Nexus could not be reached for comment. Toyota, Denso and Aisin declined to comment or did not respond for requests to comment.