Stellantis CEO: We need to “be Chinese ourselves”

Carlos Tavares, the recently criticized head of Stellantis N.V., has lashed out against the protectionist tariffs enacted in Europe to prevent the region from being flooded with cheap China-made EVs.

He pointed out that all protectionist measures ever do is limit competition. They will never incentivize car companies in the EU to run their businesses more efficiently – if anything, the outcome will be the opposite.

The solution? According to Stellantis, the automakers who find themselves struggling to compete with the Chinese brands have to figure out how to “be Chinese” themselves. In other words, they need to find a way to mass-produce vehicles that are both affordable and desirable.