It’s a surprise turnaround. Carlos Tavares, the general director of Stellantis, who had undone all his group’s ties with Chinese partners, has just announced a 21% stake in the automobile manufacturer Leapmotor, a start-up created in Hangzhou (province of Zhejiang, in the east) in 2015. Even more surprising, the group born from the merger of Fiat Chrysler with PSA Peugeot Citroën will become the bridgehead of this manufacturer for exporting its models outside China.
Carlos Tavares, although he denies it, agrees to be the Trojan horse of this Chinese actor, already ready to send two models to Europe: the small T03, already sold in 200 copies in France, but also the C10 , an SUV “completely competitive with what we know”explained the Portuguese boss during a videoconference from Hangzhou (Zhejiang province).
At a time when we are talking about relocations, when the French government is defining the outlines of a new ecological bonus intended to give an advantage to vehicles produced in Europe over those imported from regions where environmental and social standards are less demanding, where France put all its weight behind the European Commission to open an investigation into state subsidies to Chinese manufacturers, what does this strategic move by the European number two and world number four mean? Quite simply, car manufacturers are not ready to accept the fragmentation of globalization and, above all, they do not want to pay the price.
A harsh reality
Everyone has their own way of saying it. Renault, through the words of its president, Jean-Dominique Senard, described a stark reality in front of all the auto sector suppliers gathered by their professional association, the Automotive Platform, on October 24: “China has been building its electric vehicle strategy for twenty years by getting its hands on the large mines in the world necessary for the production of batteries, and it controls 70% to 80% of the refining of these metals. She carried out this strategy with incredible determination. You need lucidity: it dominates the world. »
Renault is therefore pleased that Europe is organizing itself to regain autonomy and supports the French battery manufacturer Verkor. But it has its back by also building a gigafactory in Douai (North) with the Chinese Envision to equip the cars of its ElectriCity division – Douai, Maubeuge (North) and Ruitz (Pas-de-Calais). It also has a partnership with the Chinese Geely, also a shareholder of Volvo, which currently only concerns thermal engines. It is also in China that the group has refined its skills in the development of small electric vehicles, since it is there that it manufactures its Dacia Spring, the best-selling electric model in France after Tesla.
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