Stellantis mulling the plan to end China production. Details here
- Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares hinted that the Chinese government offers unequal treatment to foreign companies in the country.
Auto giant Stellantis may stop producing vehicles in China, hinted Carlos Tavares, the company's CEO, on Monday at the 2022 Paris Motor Show. He also said that China's increasing geopolitical tensions with the West are becoming a deterrent to investment in the country. He said that the automobile giant's strategy anticipates the possibility of further geopolitical tensions in the coming days. This came after a few weeks when Stellantis had already dropped a joint venture that built Jeep SUVs in China, reports AFP. The automaker took this decision after failing to take a controlling stake in the joint venture. Stellantis is also in talks with local partner Dongfeng about its Peugeot and Citroen brands.
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Speaking about the company's strategy, Tavares had said that the thought of pulling out of China came as it had seen such situations where the auto company was thrown out of a country when Western sanctions were imposed. "There have already been several times where we've been thrown out of a country when Western sanctions are imposed... can we be sure that the stability of relations between China and the world is guaranteed?" he added.
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Unlike its German rival Volkswagen, which sold three million cars in China in 2021, the Stellantis-owned mass-market French vehicles have never broken through in the country. The auto company is now mulling the idea of selling the Peugeot and Citroen models in China after building them in other countries and importing them. "We're still selling Jeep and Alfa Romeo vehicles built outside China very profitably," said Tavares, suggesting that the same model could work for Peugeot and Citroen. "If we take our strategy all the way, we don't need any factories in China. In a world of growing tensions, we don't need to create vulnerabilities," he added further.
Tavares also said that Stellantis is aiming to generate revenues of $19.6 billion in China by 2030 with cars from its 14 brands. However, he also complained of unequal treatment from Beijing. "The red carpet is rolled out for Chinese manufacturers in Europe, and that's not how we're welcomed in China," he said, while further adding, "Import taxes on vehicles coming from China should be symmetrical with those applied to Western vehicles in China."
