Carlos Tavares, CEO of European automaker Stellantis, said on Friday (January 19) that the company would not take price cuts like other automakers to increase sales of electric vehicles. "In Europe, as in the United States, we are making money from electric vehicles. Our principle is to make sure that anything we sell makes money, because if not, then the company will not be sustainable," he told a roundtable on Friday.
Some automakers, including Fiat Chrysler, one of Stellantis' former CEOs, have been selling electric vehicles regardless of cost to stimulate sales in the hope of eventually making electric vehicles profitable. But Tavares doesn't recognize this.
Tavares also emphasized that the company will not slow down on electric vehicles just yet. He noted that although the adoption of electric vehicles in many countries is slower than expected, the company remains committed to its plan to invest 50 billion euros ($54.4 billion) in electric vehicles and related technologies by 2030.
Currently, Stellantis has launched 25 electric vehicles globally and is expected to launch 23 more models by the end of this year.
Refuse to sacrifice profitability
However, Tavares did say that there are two things that may be a stumbling block in its expansion of electric vehicles: changes in consumer demand, and potential political policy changes that may result from this year's U.S. elections and European Parliament elections.
Faced with declining consumer demand, many automakers have already responded. Ford announced on Friday that it would significantly cut the production of electric pickup trucks; General Motors, Volvo and other companies have postponed the release of some electric vehicle products; Tesla is based on more discounts for electric vehicle consumers, which has also triggered a price war in the electric vehicle industry.
As for potential changes in the political arena, Tavares said he has prepared plans for two scenarios: if a liberal party comes to power, it will accelerate the rollout of electric vehicles, and if a more conservative party comes to power, the company will make adjustments in related areas.
Either way, Stellantis isn't sacrificing profitability. Tavares noted that profitability is necessary to continue investing in new technologies. If a company lowers its prices to the point where it has no money to invest in its products, it is bound to face a "bloody war."
Stellantis is currently one of the most profitable companies, and there is room to further cut costs and reduce waste in various areas including manufacturing, batteries and energy management systems. But Tavares rejected the price cut, arguing that falling prices could make some companies lose money and become takeover targets.
new architecture
On Friday, Stellantis also announced the launch of its new STLALarge platform, a highly flexible native platform for large-scale pure electric vehicles.
In addition to pure electric vehicles, the platform can also support other propulsion systems such as plug-in hybrids, non-plug-in hybrids and conventional internal combustion engines.
The company said it plans to launch eight new vehicles on its STLA large platform, which will underpin the vehicles until 2026.
Stellantis also noted that EV models on the larger platform will be able to choose between 400-volt and 800-volt electrical architectures, allowing for a variety of charging speeds and a driving range of approximately 500 miles. Vehicles on this platform will first debut in the North American market.