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Stellantis Calls for Level Playing Field for Old, New Carmakers
(Bloomberg) -- Stellantis NV said legacy and new automakers should compete on the same terms following a squabble with France over where it expands output of the electric Peugeot e-208 and after European leaders flung open their doors to Elon Musk.
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Governments taking a keen interest in carmakers is “a good thing” during the transition to electric vehicles, Chief Executive Officer Carlos Tavares said Monday, while stressing it’s important to avoid “discrimination.”
Europe’s second-biggest carmaker, after Volkswagen AG, and France’s Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire have clashed over Stellantis favoring Spain to add capacity for the electric version of its best-selling compact model.
“We have to be on the same playing field,” Tavares said in an interview at the Paris air show. “Why don’t we ask our competitors to make” mass-market EVs in France, he suggested. “That’s one idea.”
Governments across Europe are fighting over the future of carmaking jobs with the shift to EVs requiring fewer workers. Making electric versions of successful compact cars is especially tough because high battery costs erode their already thin profit margins. Stellantis last week unveiled plans for an EV costing less than €25,000 ($27,329) that’s due to go on sale early next year and will be made in Slovakia.
During a whistle-stop tour last week, Tesla Inc. CEO Musk courted top political leaders including Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and French President Emmanuel Macron.
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