Following Luca de Meo‘s example with Renault, Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis, has also visited Spain to discuss with the Prime Minister of the Iberian country, Pedro Sánchez. The objective of such a visit remains to consolidate institutional support at a crucial moment for the automotive sector. We are in a moment marked by a profound transformation towards electric mobility that is certainly not leaving few casualties in its wake.
Stellantis seeking money from governments
During the meeting between Tavares and Sanchez, the two leaders addressed the main challenges related to the green transition, which is putting traditional manufacturers under strain, often lagging behind new market players. For Stellantis, like many other brands, it is crucial to be able to count on economic support from European governments to meet Brussels’ ambitious demands.
The upcoming regulations in 2025 will impose even stricter limits on CO2 emissions for new vehicles, setting a maximum of 93.6 grams per kilometer. Failure to meet these targets will result in heavy penalties, a prospect that several manufacturers consider unsustainable in the short term.
Tavares and Sanchez agreed on the need to collaborate to achieve European objectives while maintaining the competitiveness of the automotive industry. The Spanish president recalled his government’s commitment, which has allocated over 5.5 billion euros to support the sector, with particular attention to projects under the “PERTE VEC” program.
The third edition of the project plans to allocate additional funds by the end of the year, while a fourth phase is already planned for 2025, with a funding of about 1.25 billion euros. The group represented by Tavares has significantly benefited from these incentives: the group received 357.8 million euros for reindustrialization and decarbonization projects, which involved the plants in Madrid, Vigo, and Figueruelas.
The Spanish government reminded that the Moves III Plan, aimed at promoting the purchase of electric vehicles, is still operational until the end of 2024, while new incentives are planned for 2025. Thus, after receiving 334.8 million dollars from the American government to transform the Belvidere plant into a facility for building electric vehicles, which is still closed, Stellantis is still seeking more money. Additionally, the automotive group received another 250 million dollars to convert the Kokomo plant to produce components for electric vehicles.
All this while layoffs continue in the United States and plant closures in various markets, including the recent announcement involving the Luton plant in the United Kingdom.