Former Stellantis group boss Carlos Tavares warns that Chinese carmakers will end up as “saviours” of European factories and jobs.
Tavares (pictured) told Britain’s Financial Times (FT) that a creeping takeover by China will hasten the demise of some western manufacturers as they grapple with stringent emissions regulations, the global trade war and shifting policy on electrification.
He said China’s carmakers, already on the lookout for takeover targets, would make further inroads in Europe, building up capital stakes or buying factories on the verge of closure.
“There are lots of nice windows being opened up for the Chinese,” Tavares said in an interview with the FT. “The day a western carmaker is in severe difficulty, with factories on the verge of closing and demonstrations in the street, a Chinese carmaker will come and say ‘I’ll take it and keep the jobs’, and they’ll be considered saviours.”
The 67-year-old himself signed a deal with Chinese manufacturer Leapmotor, taking a 20 per cent stake in the group and helping it break into international markets. He defended the move but added he was also aware Leapmotor had its own motivations for entering the partnership.
“The reason is simple, it’s that they want to swallow us some day,” he said.
Peugeot PSA and Jeep were among the carmakers managed by Tavares before he left Stellantis, following a collapse in sales in both Europe and the US.
The Portuguese executive said his insistence on pursuing the EV pivot that the EU had imposed cost him his job.
The European Union would now undoubtedly abandon its internal combustion engine ban by 2035, Tavares forecast, lambasting the huge waste and “stupidity” of EU decisions to box in the industry in the first place.
European carmakers are lobbying hard to allow other technologies such as hybrids to be sold after 2035. “Who is holding the EU to account for the €100 billion of investments that won’t be used? No one,” Tavares said.
He has forecast in a newly-published memoir that only five or six carmakers would survive globally, starting with Toyota of Japan, South Korea’s Hyundai, China’s BYD and “probably” another Chinese company like Geely.
The executive, who has long predicted a “Darwinian” outcome for the industry and was known for slashing costs, took a no-holds barred approach to some of Europe’s big companies in his memoir.
Germany’s Volkswagen represented Europe’s “inability to change”, he wrote, while Tesla would “end up completely overtaken by Chinese manufacturers”, with boss Elon Musk likely to pivot to other pursuits.