Stellantis to fight China for EU foothold

STELLANTIS CEO Carlos Tavares said his company is ready to “fight” for its place in Europe’s electric vehicle market against strong competition from Chinese brands.

“We are going to be challenged and you would say brutally challenged by the Chinese offensive on the European market – at Stellantis, we are ready for the fight,” he said upon presenting Stellantis’ new EV production line in Serbia this week.

“We are going to demonstrate that we are hardworking, we are going to demonstrate to them that we have the right technology, we are going to demonstrate to them that we are a very fierce competitor.”

Stellantis has a European partnership with Chinese brand Leapmotor and will distribute its T03 electric minicar and C10 mid-size SUV in nine European markets beginning from later this year. The vehicles will be built in China.

Serbia, which is pushing to become a key European supplier of more sustainable vehicle components, EV batteries and electric vehicles, signed a €190 million ($A314.8m) deal with Stellantis in 2022 to produce an electric vehicle at its facility in Kargujevac. The facility is now seen as a generator.

“This is a huge opportunity for us,” said Serbian president Aleksander Vucic at a ceremony to open the facility’s production line.

“We are the only western Balkan region that has an electric car production facility.”

As part of its drive towards a more sustainable economy, Serbia has reinstated a licence to Rio Tinto to develop Europe’s largest lithium mine in a potential boost to the continent’s electric vehicle industry. It estimates annual lithium output of 58,000 tons (52,616 tonnes), or enough to manufacturer battery packs for 1.1 million vehicles – around 17 per cent of the total European market.

Earlier this week, Serbia penned a deal with the European Union to give the bloc access to raw materials mined in Serbia and to “strengthen their ties on sustainable raw material production, battery manufacturing and electric vehicles”.

With Automotive News Europe.