Carmaker Stellantis CEO wary of Chinese offensive as market moves into electric vehicles

abcnews.go.com:

Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares has his attention fixed on Chinese competitors as the automaker’s launch of its electric vehicle strategy begins in earnest

MILAN — Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares has his attention fixed on Chinese competitors as the automaker amps up the launch of its electric vehicle strategy.

Stellantis will launch 18 new electric vehicles this year, eight of those in North America, increasing its global EV offerings by 60%. But Tavares told reporters during earnings calls Thursday that “the job is not done” until prices on electric vehicles come down to the level of combustion engines — something that Chinese manufacturers are already able to achieve through lower labor costs.

“The Chinese offensive is possibly the biggest risk that companies like Tesla and ourselves are facing right now,’’ Tavares told reporters. “We have to work very, very hard to make sure that we bring out consumers better offerings than the Chinese.

He compared the Chinese offensive in the United States to the arrival of Japanese competitors in the 1970s and Korean carmakers in the 1990s, taking a significant market share.

“So do we want that the Chinese carmakers take a significant share of the U.S. market in the next 20 years, or the next 10 years? I don’t know. That is the question. So how do we prevent that from happening beyond all the protectionist decisions, which are out of my reach? Well, by making our consumers happy.”

In Europe, Stellantis is taking orders on the new Citroen e-C3, aimed at the middle class and selling for 23,300 euros ($25,000) with a range of 320 kilometers (199 miles), and will soon offer a 200-kilometer range entry model at 19,990 euros from 2025, both being sold at a profit. Beyond price, he said