Stellantis boss sees possible plant closures amid Chinese competition

Carlos Tavares, chief executive of the Stellantis automotive group, indicated in an interview published on Monday that the company is not ruling out plant closures in the face of competition from China.

"Nothing can be ruled out," Tavares told French financial daily Les Échos. If Chinese manufacturers secured a market share of 10% in Europe by the end of their current campaign, this would imply a volume of 1.5 million cars, he said.

"That corresponds to seven assembly plants. European manufacturers would then either have to close them or hand them over to the Chinese," Tavares said.

He predicted that Chinese carmakers would evade punitive tariffs planned by the European Union by investing in plants in Europe.

"Once that has happened, one should not be surprised that production sites will have to be closed in order to reduce exacerbated overcapacity," Tavares said.

Stellantis, which manufactures brands such as Peugeot, Citroën, Opel, Fiat, Chrysler and Jeep, issued a profit warning last month, attributing a cut in forecast earnings to problems on the North American market and difficult conditions overall in the sector.

Tavares' contract runs to the beginning of 2026, when he will retire. Stellantis is currently looking for a successor.