© Bloomberg / Contributor
– Carlos Tavares does not rule out closures of European Stellantis factories.
Carlos Tavares, the boss of Stellantis, does not rule out factory closures within his group while Chinese manufacturers multiply announcements of the opening of production sites in Europe, he told the daily newspaper on Sunday Les Echos. “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 CEO of Stellantis.
Chinese electric vehicles sold in Europe must suffer from the end of October an import tax of up to 45%. 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.”
It’s official, Carlos Tavares, the boss of Stellantis, will retire in 2026!
Margin targets revised downwards
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 maintain our neutral position (the number of cars needed to make fixed costs profitable) sou the threshold of 50% activity”he stressed. Facing difficulties in North America and Europe, the boss of Stellantis reviewed his management team, notably replacing his financial director. The automobile group also confirmed the retirement of Mr. Tavares, 66, from 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 revised its margin targets sharply downward for 2024, when it published margins at 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”said Carlos Tavares.
Stellantis: breakdowns are increasing on almost new hybrid models
Does France need migrants to run Stellantis factories?
The leader continues to oppose a postponement of the strengthening European standards of 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 “Has France need for migrants to run your factories?”, Carlos Tavares responded “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.
