FILE PHOTO: A view shows the logo of Stellantis at the entrance of the company’s factory in Hordain, France, July 7, 2021. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol
March 1, 2022
By Gilles Guillaume
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – The head of Stellantis said on Tuesday the company had set up a task force to conform with any sanctions and monitor its staff in Ukraine, hours before the world’s No.4 carmaker presents its strategic plan for the next few years.
Chief Executive Carlos Tavares said its business in Russia represented around 20 million euros ($22.4 million) in terms of results, and that its staff in Ukraine were safe as of the last update.
Leading auto makers, airlines and banks have cut shipments, ended partnerships and condemned Russia’s actions as President Vladimir Putin moved into the sixth day of the military offensive on Ukraine and a massive convoy approached the capital Kyiv.
Separately, Tavares said he hoped very soon to announce a deal with the Italian government on the battery plant the group wants to build in the country, after Rome pledged last month to support the plan with 369 million euros of public money.
The Italian battery plant would be the third for the group in Europe, after ones it has already announced in France and Germany. It will be built in Termoli, southern Italy, through the conversion of an existing engine facility.
Tavares said the Termoli investment could be of a similar size to those planned for the gigafactories in France and Germany, which are being built through ACC, a joint venture Stellantis has with Mercedes-Benz and TotalEenergies.
The total investment for each battery plant in France and Germany amounts to around 2 billion euros.
Tavares added that he did not expect the crisis regarding a shortage in semiconductor chips, which has caused carmakers worldwide to slash production, to end this year.
($1 = 0.8911 euros)
(Additional reporting by Giulio Piovaccari in Milan and Sarah Morland in Gdansk, Editing by Louise Heavens, Keith Weir, Kirsten Donovan)
