TURIN (Reuters) – Stellantis has already taken steps and is still working to avoid the risk of plant closures, as recently announced by rival Volkswagen, the carmaker’s chief executive Carlos Tavares said on Tuesday.
“We have done a lot of unpopular things in recent years to avoid a situation similar to that of Volkswagen as much as possible,” he said.
“We have been criticized for this, for having made decisions that have not always been well understood,” added Carlos Tavares, stressing the importance of selling electric cars at the same price as thermal models.
Earlier this month, Europe’s largest carmaker, Volkswagen, announced that it was considering closing factories in its home country of Germany for the first time in its history.
Volkswagen’s announcement sparked speculation about possible similar measures by other European carmakers facing low plant utilization in Europe, growing pricing pressure from Asian rivals and a tougher economic environment.
“We are working very hard to avoid this situation and the future will tell us whether we will be able to avoid problems or not. It is too early to say today,” said Carlos Tavares.
(Report by Giulio Piovaccari, with contributions from Cristina Carlevaro and Emelia Sithole-Matarise, by Mara Vîlcu, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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