Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis (which notably owns Citroën, Peugeot, Opel, Fiat and Jeep), has always been skeptical of the electric car market. It clearly continues to be so; more precisely, the “price war”, mainly led by Tesla and Chinese brands, greatly worries him.
Despite a range of electric cars which is growing day by day, with even a certain success in terms of sales, the sprawling Stellantis group (which owns Peugeot, Citroën, Fiat, Jeep and Opel, but also DS, Alfa Romeo, Lancia , Maserati, Dodge or even RAM and Chrysler), has always been skeptical in this area.
Doubts which are personified in the person of Carlos Tavares, CEO of the group, who continues to warn of the dangers of the electrification of the market. We had already heard about the “brutality” of the paradigm shift in this sector, but it does not stop there, as the newspaper reports to us Fortune.
A “bloodbath” approaching
It was in parallel with the presentation of his new STLA Large platform, dedicated to the group’s most luxurious and high-performance models, that Carlos Tavares spoke on the “price war” mainly waged by Tesla and Chinese manufacturers. , BYD in the lead. And he doesn’t mince his words.
“If you decide to lower prices without taking into account the reality of your costs, you will have a bloodbath. I’m trying to avoid a race to the bottom.”he clarified.
A timely statement, a few days after spectacular price drops by many manufacturers: Volkswagen, Renault, MG and Dacia, but also Tesla and BYD have reduced the prices of their models by several thousand euros. .
These price reductions are very good news for consumers, but much less pleasant for the brands’ profits: Tesla saw its profits drop by 40% in 2023 after successive price reductions for its models, mainly with the aim of remains world number 1 in electric cars – a situation which was nevertheless stolen from it at the end of 2023 by BYD.
At the same time, several manufacturers have experienced a complicated year in 2023 in the electric sector: Volkswagen will have to cut its workforce and Ford has lost huge sums in its dedicated division, forcing it to scale back its future projects. .
A drop in prices still visible
The only thing left is that the Stellantis group is making efforts on the accessibility of its electric cars. Certainly, not necessarily as much as he thinks, but some evidence still points in the right direction.
The Citroën ë-C3, for example, arrives in June with a price of 23,300 euros excluding bonuses and obviously good level services. It will be joined a little later by the Fiat Pandina, which will be almost identical to the little French car and at prices which should be quite close.
The Peugeot E-3008 is also a good surprise, all things considered. Its prices have only recently been known and are ultimately quite well placed in its category – not as much as what the Renault Scénic E-Tech or the Tesla Model Y offers, but we expected worse.
At the same time, Stellantis remains faithful to its objectives “100% of battery electric car (BEV) sales for passenger cars in Europe and 50% of BEV sales for passenger cars and pickups in the United States by 2030”, while aiming “carbon neutrality by 2038”.
Ambitious objectives, but we have to see if the rather pessimistic vision of his boss (or the next elections?) will not thwart them.