TURIN, Sept 17 (Askume) – Stellantis (STLAM.MI) Chief Executive Carlos Tavares said on Tuesday the company has taken measures and is working to avoid the risk of factory closures following rival Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE).
“We have done a lot of unpopular things over the past few years to avoid a situation like Volkswagen as much as possible,” Tavares said.
“We have been criticized for this because we make decisions … that are not always fully understood,” Tavares said, adding that the main thing is to sell electric vehicles at the same price as conventional gasoline models.
Earlier this month, Europe’s biggest automaker Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) announced it was considering closing factories in its native Germany for the first time in its history.
Volkswagen’s announcement fueled speculation that more European automakers could be evaluating similar moves in response to low factory utilisation in the region, rising pricing pressure from Asian rivals and a difficult economic environment.
“We are working very, very hard to avoid this situation, and the future will decide whether we can avoid any trouble. It’s too early to say,” Tavares told reporters after the inauguration of the group’s global commercial vehicle centre in Italy, a unit in Turin.
Stellantis (formed from the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot maker PSA) will cut about 20,000 workers in Europe between 2021 and 2023, mostly through voluntary layoffs.
