Stellantis to rejoin ACEA

Following the departure of CEO Carlos Tavares, car manufacturer Stellantis wants to rejoin the European manufacturers' association ACEA. Under Tavares, Stellantis had left the association in 2022.

In a statement, the ACEA welcomes Stellantis’ renewed application to join the association. “Given Europe’s unprecedented competitiveness crisis and collective need to master the challenges of the green transformation, it is more important than ever to stand united,” said Renault CEO Luca de Meo, who currently also holds the ACEA chairmanship. “ACEA members may be competitors on the market, but they all share the same goal: a competitive and sustainable transition to zero-emission mobility, in a Europe that can stand its ground globally. This we will continue working on with full drive and commitment.”

In September, Tavares had publicly repeated his criticism of the association. On the one hand, he criticised the ACEA’s proposal to postpone the CO2 targets for 2025 by two years in the short term. In the longer term, Tavares accused the ACEA of advocating a massive softening of the combustion engine phase-out in 2035 without need.

Shortly after it was decided in 2022 that only new cars with CO2 emissions of zero grams per kilometre would be allowed to be registered in the EU from 2035, Stellantis left the ACEA under Tavares. He saw the political decision as proof that the association’s lobbying against such a measure had failed. Stellantis could then also save himself the considerable membership fees.

The request by the interim management of Stellantis is probably due to an upcoming change in strategy. Tavares’ position on CO2 targets is also said to have been one of the reasons for his premature departure. The Board of Directors led by John Elkann is said to have demanded that Stellantis should also advocate a softening of the regulations at EU level – which Tavares allegedly rejected so vehemently that he became increasingly isolated within the management team. In order to avoid having to pay fines to the EU, Tavares reportedly even wanted to reduce combustion engine production if Stellantis was unable to sell enough electric cars.

The search for a successor to Carlos Tavares is still ongoing at Stellantis. It is unlikely that the position will be filled by someone who is as dogmatic about CO2 targets as Tavares.

acea.auto, automobilwoche.de (in German)