2024-02-27 20:05:47
The Chinese automobile giant BYD indicated that it had been contacted by the government of Giorgia Meloni, who is seeking to bring a second manufacturer to Italy to increase car production and thus end the Stellantis monopoly. “We have some contacts to discuss it”declared Michael Shu, boss of BYD Europe, on the sidelines of the Geneva Motor Show during an interview with the Bloomberg agency published Monday evening.
Approach to France
According to a BYD spokesperson in France, the French government had also approached the group to attract its factory, just like Germany or Poland. But BYD already had a bus factory and suppliers in Hungary, which made its choice easier. BYD overtook Tesla as the world’s leading electric car producer at the end of 2023 and has other plans for factories outside Europe, from Southeast Asia to Brazil.
In the midst of a controversy with Stellantis over state subsidies for electric vehicles, Italian Business Minister Adolfo Urso launched the idea of calling on a second manufacturer in order to achieve his goal of increasing Italian production to one million units per year. “Important negotiations on an international level have been underway for months to bring a second car manufacturer to Italy”he assured in mid-February, without revealing the names of the groups contacted.
Stellantis increased its production in Italy last year by 9.6% to nearly 752,000 vehicles and if the group might maintain this pace, the target of one million cars might be reached “very, very quickly”, affirmed its general director Carlos Tavares. An objective which might however be compromised, according to him, if another manufacturer started producing in Italy. “If we invite more Chinese car manufacturers to produce in Europe, do you think that will help?” he said in mid-February to journalists.
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