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On the occasion of the Paris Motor Show, Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis (6th world group resulting from the merger of PSA Peugeot-Citroën and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles), Carlos Tavares, explains his strategy for the electric car and accuses Europe of the “red carpet” for the Chinese. Maintenance.
RFI: The Stellantis Group is engaged in an approach to accelerate electric mobility: design, manufacture and recycling of vehicles. What are your current projects?
Carlo Tavares: It’s pretty simple. We want to offer our fellow citizens, especially Europeans and French, clean, safe and affordable mobility. We have excellent results, as the Peugeot 208 is the best-selling electric car in France. We have about thirty models for sale, strengthened our technological development with the creation of Stellantis, within the regulatory framework established by the European Union. Here in Paris, we have many new products, starting with the Jeep Avenger, the brand’s first 100% electric vehicle.
This is an approach encouraged by the government. French President Emmanuel Macron announces financial incentives for the most modest households. It is certainly an asset to you. ?
Without these incentives, middle- and lower-class households would not be able to purchase an electric car. The real problem is the cost, and therefore the price. If we do not facilitate access to the middle class, Europe’s electrification strategy would be stillborn. At some point dogmatism has to meet reality. And, in a way, are reinforced by low pragmatism. It is natural that we help the most modest households to access the electric car, because it is about protecting freedom of movement. And if there is no freedom of movement for the middle class, there is no modern democracy.
► Also read: Emmanuel Macron puts the turbo on the electric car
How do you see China’s arrival as a major player in this market?
There are no surprises. We have often explained that the dogmatic decisions of the European Union have rolled out the red carpet for Chinese manufacturers. It was predictable. Here, at the Mondial de l’auto in Paris, apart from Stellantis and its French competitor (Renault), there are only Chinese manufacturers. The Chinese offensive is now a fact. We’ve been warning about this risk for five or six years. Unfortunately it becomes reality. We’ll have to deal with it. We are ready for battle. Ready to race. It will be rough. European citizens need to know this and I encourage them to support European manufacturers.
Talk about a fight. China is no partner, no potential market?
For Stellantis, the least that can be said is that the competitive conditions in Europe make the task much easier for Chinese manufacturers than the Chinese regulations do for Western manufacturers. It would therefore be least if the European Union imposed reciprocity in the competitive conditions on the European market vis-à-vis the Chinese market. We note that this is not the case, we regret it, this is part of the naivety that is added to the dogmatism of the European Union’s decisions. And this is a serious problem for European citizens themselves.
We are in a serious energy crisis. How can a car manufacturer save energy for its customers and also save energy for society, in its factories?
We have implemented a plan that will allow us to reduce our electricity consumption by 20%. It is an ecological and economic necessity. We have also launched an energy production plan that will enable us to produce 50% of our needs by 2025. This is a very important contribution to reducing the burden on our societies.
Stellantis is a global group. What are her ambitions in Africa?
The Africa and Middle East region is probably the region of the world with the greatest growth potential of the youth population, while the Western world is aging. Due to the birth rate, the need for mobility is enormous. We will make our contribution. We lead multiple initiatives to bring the best technology to the African continent. We will do this under economic conditions that allow the middle class access to the use of the automobile, an absolutely wonderful instrument of freedom.
Which countries are involved as a priority?
We have Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia and recently Algeria [accord-cadre avec Fiat, NDLR]. And we have every intention of having a presence in other countries on the continent in the near future. Our strategic objective is very simple: we want 70% of the vehicles we sell in Africa to be produced there. There are also used cars that capitalize on the economic strength of families. Today it was a company that is very profitable due to low new car production, a result of the semiconductor crisis. We have a used vehicle department also in the Africa region. We continue to invest in this sector, also for the circular economy: extending the life of vehicles, recycling, reusing parts, what we call standard trade-ins on transmissions, on engines, on bridges. We have very ambitious economic goals.
As a leader of a large global company, how do you analyze the labor market? Much has been said about the great resignation. In the context of the crisis, employees ask many questions about the level of the remuneration.
I see it with some concern. We have an exceptional quality of life in Europe, and especially in France. I am a privileged person who has the ability to compare many very different situations in the world. Only Europeans do not know how lucky they are to live in such a beautiful region. You have to tell them: if you want to protect your way of life, you will have to work more. If you want to work less, your quality of life will deteriorate. If you don’t create wealth, you can’t redistribute it. It is very important to respect Europeans by telling them the truth and avoiding electoral demagoguery. We need to work with less bureaucracy, less technocracy, in a more fluid way, using modern means of communication. Have better productivity at work to produce more, without working more hours. It is a form of intelligence that the European Union has lost.
And the salaries?
It’s pretty clear that we need to keep improving pay and that’s what we’ve been doing at Stellantis. What we decided with our social partners was above inflation, especially in France (7%). Last year, we paid out €1.9 billion in performance bonuses to all our employees over a 10-year period. We pay out the same amount to our employees as to our shareholders, we’re in a fairly balanced approach.
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