After largely resisting the EV movement for some time, Ford rival Stellantis has since announced a bevy of investments in that area, along with plenty of future models that are currently in development – not to mention a whole line of platforms for those vehicles, with much of its focus going to the commercial space as well. However, like Ford and its rivals, Stellantis is also facing the reality of high raw materials costs related to EV making, as well as the resulting high prices that create a large barrier to widespread adoption. In fact, Ford doesn’t expect its EVs to become profitable until second-generation models begin populating our roads in 2026. Meanwhile, even though Tesla has been aggressively slashing prices as of late, Ford isn’t following suit just yet – and it doesn’t seem as if Stellantis will either, according to Reuters.
“If you go and cut pricing disregarding the reality of your costs, you will have a bloodbath,” Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said during the reveal event for the company’s new multi-purpose platforms. “I am trying to avoid a race to the bottom. I know a company that has brutally cut pricing and their profitability has brutally collapsed.” However, Tavares also added that “Western consumers want affordable BEVs. Anything that can ensure a better price will be exactly on the spot of what we should be doing.”
Tavares refused to elaborate on which company he’s referring to here, but it is worth noting that Tesla is the sole EV maker to announce multiple rounds of major price cuts as of late – not only in the U.S., but also in China and Europe.
Meanwhile, Tavares also noted that while some automakers are having issues building vehicles in Europe and then transporting them via the Red Sea – which is currently in the midst of a major state of unrest – that isn’t the case for Stellantis at the moment. “The travel will be longer, that’s true if you go around Africa,” he said. “It may have an impact on the cost, so there may be good discussions about the cost and how we should mitigate that. But at this stage, I don’t see any other impact than that one. Of course, some of our competitors may have had some issues with that. It’s not our case. So far, it’s okay. Things are moving well.”
We’ll have more on everything Ford’s competition is up to soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for ongoing Ford news coverage.
Comments
Tavares is a moron with no comprehension of the realities of the market. No one has increased pricing as much as they have, and as a result their POS cheapest Compass is north of $30K. They are pricing themselves out of the market.
And RAM was down ’23 YTD vs ’22 YTD… every oth truck was up on 2022 last year
Selling dated tech at those prices got them