The former president of Peugeot and Stellantis, Carlos Tavares, predicts that Chinese car manufacturers will end up being the “saviors” of European factories and jobs, with gradual acquisitions that, however, will accelerate the demise of some Western manufacturers.
In an interview published this Tuesday, 28, by Financial Times (FT), about a year after leaving Stellantis due to a management conflict, Tavares paints a bleak picture for European car groups in particular, which face strict emissions regulations, a global trade war and changes in electrification policy.
The former Portuguese executive predicts that, in the next 10 to 15 years, Chinese car manufacturers, currently looking for targets for purchase, will make new acquisitions in Europe, going public or completely buying struggling factories.
“There are many interesting windows opening for the Chinese,” said Tavares. “The day a Western car manufacturer is in serious trouble, with factories on the verge of closure and demonstrations in the streets, a Chinese car manufacturer will come and say, ‘I’ll take this and keep the jobs’ and they will be considered saviors,” he predicted.
As executive president of Stellantis, Carlos Tavares himself signed an agreement with Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Leapmotor, acquiring a 20% stake in the company and helping it enter international markets.
A measure he defends, but with the exception of being aware that Leapmotor had its own motivations for entering into the partnership: “The reason is simple: they want to swallow us one day”, he maintained, revealing that several Chinese companies approached him to manage or advise their businesses.
Tavares, who built his career in France – first at Renault and then at the head of PSA, maker of Peugeot – said his insistence on following the switch to electric vehicles imposed by the European Union (EU) cost him his job.
Predicting that the EU will abandon the ban on internal combustion engines by 2035 – European car manufacturers are exerting strong pressure to allow other technologies, such as hybrids, to be sold after that date – Tavares criticizes the enormous waste and “stupidity” of the EU’s decisions to limit the industry.
“Who is holding the EU responsible for the 100,000 million euros of investments that will not be used? Nobody”, he stated in the interview with the FT.
In a recently published memoir, the Portuguese manager predicted that only five or six car manufacturers would survive globally, starting with Toyota in Japan, Hyundai in South Korea, BYD in China and, “probably”, another Chinese company, such as Geely.
The former executive, who has long predicted a “Darwinian” outcome for the industry and is known for cutting costs, also raises questions about the future of Stellantis and predicts that Tesla will lose out to Chinese rivals.
To the FT, Tavares also says that Stellantis was “strategically created in a perfect way for globalization”, but that its Board of Directors will now have to decide whether this is still the right approach.