The boss of the Opel-parent company Stellantis, Carlos Tavares (66), rules out factory closures in view of the sales crisis in the automotive industry and competition China not out. “You can’t rule anything out,” Tavares told the French newspaper Les Échos. If the Chinese achieve a market share of 10 percent in Europe at the end of their offensive, this would mean a volume of 1.5 million cars. “That corresponds to seven assembly plants. The European manufacturers would then either have to close them down or hand them over to the Chinese.”
Tavares warns of a “cost trap” for manufacturers
On the sidelines of the Paris Motor Show, which began on Monday, Tavares warned loudly “Financial Times
“ also warns that longer delays in switching to electric vehicles would lead manufacturers into a dangerous “cost trap”. “When you make a longer transition, you don’t replace the old world with the new. You add the new world to the old,” Tavares said.
Martin Sander, who heads sales, marketing and aftersales at Volkswagen, also called on governments to speed up the transition after demand for electric vehicles fell sharply in Germany and other markets where government subsidies were eliminated or cut is. “I hope that we will see clear commitments and signals from politicians that the future is electric. And then I am convinced that customer demand will also pick up,” he added.
In September, the parent company Stellantis received from car manufacturers such as Peugeot, Citroën, Opel, Fiat, Chrysler and Jeep its profit expectations for this year scaled back due to problems in the North American market and the weak industry situation. CEO Tavares’ contract runs until the beginning of 2026, The now 66-year-old will then retire. The group is already looking for a successor.
Tavares is controversial as a leadership figure: There have been repeated conflicts between Stellantis traders and the CEO in the past. Numerous partners repeatedly raged because of the brutal methods
, with which the 66-year-old runs the group, including Tavares’ austerity measures. Most recently, Stellantis traders publicly opposed him.