The leader of the automobile group points the finger at Chinese factories which could force European players to close their production sites.
A gray cloud is looming on the horizon for the automotive sector. As the 90th motor show opens its doors today, Carlos Tavares, the boss of Stellantis, does not rule out factory closures within his group while Chinese manufacturers are increasing their announcements of site openings production in Europe.
“Closing the borders to Chinese products is a trap (…) They will get around the barriers by investing in factories in Europe. Factories which will be partly financed by state subsidies, in low-cost countries”explained the general director of Stellantis this Sunday, October 13 to the daily Les Echos. Chinese electric vehicles sold in Europe must be subject to an import tax of up to 45% from the end of October. Some manufacturers like BYD have already announced they are opening sites in Europe to avoid these surcharges. In this context, are Stellantis factories threatened? “Nothing should be excluded”replied Carlos Tavares. “If the Chinese take 10% market share in Europe at the end of their offensive, that means they will produce 1.5 million cars. That’s seven assembly plants. European manufacturers will then have to either close them or transfer them to the Chinese..
Volkswagen a “shot first” by mentioning the closure of sites in Germany. “For our part, there is no reason to accept a deterioration in our performance if the Chinese progress in Europe, even if we will keep our breakeven point (the number of cars necessary to make fixed costs profitable) below the threshold of 50% activity”he stressed.
A new management team
Facing difficulties in North America and Europe, the boss of Stellantis reviewed his management team, notably replacing his financial director. The automotive group also confirmed the retirement of Carlos Tavares, 66, at the end of his mandate in January 2026. “The unanimous support of the board and its chairman John Elkann allows everyone to regain their concentration to work peacefully until the end of my contract at the beginning of 2026”indicated the boss of the group with fifteen brands (Fiat, Peugeot, Chrysler, etc.). Stellantis had previously significantly revised its margin targets for 2024 downwards, while it had published margins of more than 10% since the creation of the group in 2021.
“If the context makes achieving this goal completely stupid, we are not going to cling to it at all costs. We are not crazy”indicated Carlos Tavares. The leader continues to oppose a postponement of the strengthening of European standards for gas emissions warming the planet and regrets that Stellantis is “the fuse of disputes between the European Union and some of its members, like Italy, who want to reverse the decisions taken”. “Today, support or opposition to electric vehicles is a political divide”he said in Les Echos. Then questioned by the LCI television channel, which asked him “Does France need migrants to run your factories?”Carlos Tavares replied “this problem starts with the birth rate”. More “if France wants to continue to increase its wealth to serve the way of life of its population, it (in, Editor’s note) needs”he said, echoed by the journalist.
