In response to the unprecedented threats confronting the automotive industry, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares declared on Tuesday that the company is planning several serious measures that could prevent the plant closure situation that was recently threatened by competitor Volkswagen. Tavares was quoted by reporters when launching a new global center for Stellantis’ commercial vehicle division, Pro One, in Turin, Italy, as stating that some key decisions have been made over the past years to support the company’s future.
“We have done many unpopular things over the last few years to avoid as much as possible” the risk of closures similar to those being envisaged by Volkswagen, Tavares noted. He agreed that some of these decisions raise controversy where he stated, “They were not well understood.” Prominent goals for Stellantis include being able to offer electric cars at competitive prices with petrol cars to increase demand among consumers.
Volkswagen recently raised the industry’s eyebrows by pointing at factory shutdown possibilities in Germany for the first time and triggered unrest regarding similar tendencies throughout Europe, amid a low factory utilisation rate, rising cost pressures from Asian competitors, and a rather unfriendly economic environment.
Tavares also made a clear statement to stakeholders, saying that Stellantis is ‘working very, very hard’ to avoid such scenarios, but he also admitted that successes are still difficult to forecast in his company’s case. Carmaker Stellantis, formed in January 2021 through the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot maker PSA, has already slashed its European workforce by almost 20,000, mostly through attrition.
Given that the automotive industry is transitioning towards a new era, and the future trajectory is still uncertain, the actions that Stellantis takes will be important to observe primarily as efforts to ensure that the sector remains a competitive one with a viable future are made.