Stellantis CEO Says Must “Be Chinese Ourselves” To Produce Competitive EVs

Stellantis CEO Carlo Tavares has been open about issues with restricting China-made EVs via massive tariffs since the beginning

In the latest development, Stellantis CEO Carlo Tavares admits that becoming like China is the only solution to compete with their EVs. In the last couple of years, Chinese EVs have been taking the global markets by storm. They often offer immensely capable EVs at a fraction of the price of other legacy carmakers. The domestic Chinese market is already riding the EV wave. In addition, the top Chinese EV giants are now flooding the international markets with their price-effective products. This, naturally, is concerning for the established auto giants of the pre-EV world.

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Stellantis CEO Makes Serious Confession About EVs

During an interview with Reuters, Carlos Tavares said, “the Western governments’ measures shield us from the reality that Chinese automakers can make competitive EVs at one-third of the cost.” However, he clarifies unequivocally that the solution is not boycotting Chinese EVs but taking inspiration from them to create something similar. He is, obviously, referring to more affordable EVs.

Remember, the U.S. and Europe have levied astronomical 100% and 38.1% import tariffs on Chinese-manufactured cars, respectively. The aim is to tackle the competitiveness of China. As a matter of fact, the U.S. has gone one step deeper by announcing tariffs and refusing to offer tax credits if the battery components are not sourced from either the U.S. or its trade partners. This makes it hard for Chinese carmakers to sell EVs Stateside.

To counter all that, Stellantis has established a partnership with Chinese Leapmotor. It makes the C10 electric sedan which is one of the first cars to ever feature the cell-to-chassis battery technology. On the back of this joint venture, Leapmotor has gained access to the European market. In fact, it produces its EVs at Stellantis’ Poland plant where cars from Fiat, Jeep and Alfa Romeo are also built. Using this approach, Leapmotor could also make its way to the U.S. albeit the process would be challenging.

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Learn Electric Cars Says

The situation with anti-China EV practices is starting to influence the entire global automobile industry. Stellantis CEO has been vocal about this since the beginning. He, along with a few other legacy car marques with strong ties to the Chinese market, have been opposing the idea of tariffs all along. Sure, they have their own profits and business in mind. However, there could be some merit in their claims of such measures affecting global trade. In any case, we shall have to keep an eye out for further developments in this regard.