NEW YORK — Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said he’s not asking for special tariffs against Chinese automakers seeking to enter the U.S. market.
Chinese companies have about a 30 percent cost advantage, and the prospect of BYD or others manufacturing in Mexico means they could avoid import taxes levied against vehicles made in China. But Tavares argued that Stellantis needs to find ways to match them anywhere in the world.
“I’m not asking for any kind of protection, because anyway, we are a global company, so I will not be protected everywhere,” he told reporters here Tuesday. “So I need to be facing the harsh competition and being able — through my own skills — to compete with them.”
Last month, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that without trade barriers, Chinese automakers will “pretty much demolish most other car companies.”
Tavares said he agreed “that the Chinese are the major threat right now, because they are the only guys that can sell BEVs at the price of ICE [vehicles].”
But protections in the U.S. or even all of Europe are inherently limited.
“Whatever the Western world will decide in terms of protections doesn’t fix the rest of the world,” Tavares said.
“I will have to face the Chinese competitors in Latin America, I will have to face them in Africa-Middle East. I will have to face them in Asia. So if I am protected in the U.S. or even protected in Europe [that] doesn’t represent for me good enough protection because I need to face them anywhere in the rest of the world — which means that my only option is to go head-on and fight.”
In Europe, he touted the Citroën ë-C3, which is priced at €23,300 ($25,190) for the midlevel trim and under $21,600 for the entry version. Stellantis is planning to introduce eight EVs to the U.S. market this year.