Stellantis CEO Tavares calls for level playing field for old, new automakers

Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said legacy and new automakers should compete on the same page following a squabble with France over where it expands output of the electric Peugeot e-208 and after European leaders flung open their doors to Elon Musk.

Governments taking a keen interest in automakers is “a good thing” during the transition to electric vehicles, while stressing it’s important to avoid “discrimination,” Tavares said Monday.

Stellantis and France’s Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire have clashed over Stellantis favoring Spain to enlarge capacity for the electric version of the best-selling model.

“We have to be on the same playing field,” Tavares said in an interview at the Paris air show. “Why don’t we ask our competitors to make” mass-market EVs in France. “That is one idea.”

Governments across Europe are fighting over the future of carmaking jobs with the shift to EVs requiring fewer workers. Making full-electric versions of successful compact cars is especially tough because of high battery prices eroding thin profit margins.

Stellantis last week unveiled details of an EV for its Citroen brand costing less than 25,000 euros ($27,329) that is due to go on sale early next year and will be made in Slovakia.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk last week met French President Emmanuel Macron and Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to talk about investment in new EV and battery factories.

Macron’s government has said it wants Tesla to build an electric-car factory in France. He is trying to make northern France, formerly an industrial stronghold, into an EV and battery-making hub.

Spain has also been seeking to expand its battery and electric vehicle production capacity to help offset an anticipated drop in combustion-engine cars. VW has announced plans to build a $7.7 billion EV hub in Valencia. Local media reported earlier this month that Tesla is in discussions over building a battery plant in the coastal region of Valencia.

Musk's charm offensive in Europe also comes as Tesla's sole factory on the continent, outside Berlin, has been ramping up more slowly than anticipated due to pushback from environmental groups and Germany’s copious red tape.

These complications have led some to speculate that Musk is shopping around for a more favorable site for his next local plant. While it's unlikely he needs one for Tesla’s existing product lines, the company is working on a next generation of lower-cost electric vehicles.