A major report on the issue of European automotive electrification, published online in early December, sheds new light on the matter. It shows that it is probably the mistakes made in the past that have given electrification the status it now has as the only feasible solution. It also shows that the dead ends of the past will resurface. The debate opened up at that time may lead either to questioning the Brussels choice or to seeking to reorient the conditions for its implementation.

It is not wrong to say that, as Le Point said on Friday 16 December, a form of 'self-censorship' on the part of Europe is currently weighing on the debates concerning electrification. 
It is undeniably desirable, even essential, to get out of this self-censorship in 2023 as the irremediable effects of the decisions confirmed in 2022 to move away from fossil fuels accelerate and as each European country seeks in this context to jointly manage the decline of the old sector and the rise of the new. read more

Cars are not textiles or consumer electronics and products travel more readily within a region than across the globe. For this reason, the "Chinese question" will soon cease to be the question of imports and their possible containment and become that of the assembly of Chinese vehicles in Europe. What attitude will Europe then develop? Everything converges today to cast doubt on its ability to develop a different Chinese policy from the one that is taking shape in the case of the Wuling Hongguang Mini entering Europe through the Estonian door.

At a time when we were worried about American protectionism and Emmanuel Macron was going to raise with President Biden the question of exporting European vehicles to North America, which only interests German manufacturers and the Chinese Volvo, it was announced that an electric vehicle called the FreZe Nikrob EV would be marketed in France in 2023 by the Estonian group Dartz, with a starting price of 12 or 13,000 euros, minus the bonus. read more

The announcement in the week of 14 November of a doubling of the production capacity of the Stellantis factory in Kenitra was presented, like the announcement of the construction project of the factory 7 years ago, as intended to satisfy the African and Middle Eastern needs. However, it is a reaffirmation by the group of a clear strategic course: the competition of sites, employees and states.

Continuing the discourse which has been his since the construction project of the Kenitra factory was born, the management of Stellantis presented last week its project of doubling the assembly capacity of the factory as being intended to allow the company to hold a leading position in the expansion of the African and Middle Eastern markets.

The Moroccan partners are trying not to interfere too much with this communication strategy but are more explicit about the real ambition of the project by putting forward the main economic virtue that this investment will have, beyond the jobs created directly and indirectly: exports. Thus, the Minister for Industry and Foreign Trade, Ryad Mezzour, was pleased in May with the growing automobile surplus recorded. He stated: 'In terms of volume, Morocco is the leading exporter of cars to the European Union ahead of China, Korea, Japan, Turkey... The best-selling car in Europe is made in Morocco. read more

The European situation is now structured by the 2035 deadline and one might have the impression that the hesitations, procrastinations and debates are now over. In fact, because certain issues such as heavy goods vehicles remain open and, above all, because a sort of "review clause" has been provided for in 2026, the opponents of electric vehicles are pretending to adhere to the agreement but have not said their last word. An explanation of the text of the Clepa secretary-general's editorial published on 2 November shows this to be true. read more

The week of the Motor Show was one of interaction between the French political world and the two manufacturers. At a time when the latter must manage, without having the choice of technologies, a very rapid decarbonisation of the vehicles they market, public support is there. It is not surprising and rather legitimate in this context that a form of national preference should be requested if it cannot be demanded. In the European context, however, it is only possible to make support conditional on production in the EU. This may not be sufficient.

As could be expected, the Motor Show, deserted by many major brands, was not attended by Chinese manufacturers. This led Carlos Tavares and others to express a fear, that of seeing the automobile market, which has become electric by political decision, handed over on a platter to Chinese manufacturers and brands.

This fear, whether real or feigned, expresses a more general feeling in a large part of the automotive world, which consists of reproaching politicians for naively allowing themselves to be convinced by a fantastical plot that would have brought together Beijing, the ecologists - whom they like to call the "green Khmers" - and the urban bobos who vote for them, and a major part of the Brussels technocracy and the large European States. read more

Since 2014, with undeniable success, the management of Stellantis, under the leadership of Carlos Tavares, has taken over almost all the files and is obsessively seeking to improve the economic performance of the group. Exhilarated by their success, the teams do not seem to see any limits to the application of the recipes which, for the moment, have worked wonderfully. However, recently, the reorganisation of logistics has put a damper on things. The doubt thus created on the infallibility of the rationalisation methods applied upstream would undoubtedly deserve to remain in the minds of those concerned with distribution. The reorganisations of the trade announced last week indicate that this is not the case.

On Wednesday, Autoactu described to us the major changes that Stellantis intends to implement in its commercial organisation in France.
The following day, we learned that, at the same time as these changes, which are worrying the networks, were taking place, a previous reorganisation concerning vehicle logistics "turned into a fiasco". read more

There is currently a debate among economists and economic policy makers (monetary and fiscal) on the appropriate strategies to deal with inflation. The consensus that has not yet disappeared in France and Europe was to avoid following the US authorities in raising interest rates. This consensus is weakening, although there is no lack of arguments to support it.

French and European macroeconomic policies are at a crossroads at the end of September and the automotive industry is both a witness to this and a potential beneficiary and/or victim. Indeed, until the end of the summer, France was still largely living under the influence - or even the umbrella - of a double gamble.

The first was that of Christine Lagarde, who refused to align ECB policy with that of the Fed, even if this had an impact on parities and led to a problematic depreciation of the euro. Underlying this gamble was the priority given to the sustainability of public debt in the euro zone.

We know that, since Mario Draghi, the ECB has agreed, in order to save the euro, to change its stance and doctrine in order to remove the question of the assessment of the quality of public debt from the appreciation of the markets and thus considerably reduce the spreads of which the "club med" was victim. read more

To get the EU to back down on this issue, opponents of the battery electric vehicle (BEV) frequently cite the threat of Chinese domination. This is a very real threat, not only in China and/or in the field of batteries, where it is already evident, but also in the long term on the automotive market itself in Europe. However, on closer inspection, it becomes clear that it is not so much electrification as the distribution, industrial development and product strategies of the Europeans that offer the Chinese offensive the most powerful vectors for success.

In its article at the end of August on the 'conquest of Europe' by Chinese manufacturers, the daily Les Echos pointed out that 'traditional distributors are tempted by Chinese approaches' and that 'some, such as Aiways and MG, are also taking advantage of the demand from short-term rental companies, to whom manufacturers prefer the most profitable sales channels'. read more

Barely envisaged, relocations already contested deserve to be defendedWhile we continue to import massively the vehicles we consume, whether electric or thermal, the movement to relocate assemblies, barely begun, is already being contested in the name of the obvious economic advantages of globalisation. Faced with this counter-offensive from the supporters of globalisation, we must stand firm and continue to try to make electrification an opportunity for the reindustrialisation of the French car industry.

In terms of jobs, added value, volumes produced and foreign trade, the French automobile industry has experienced a fairly rapid descent into hell over the last twenty years. This is mainly due to the gap that has been created between the vehicles that the French buy and those that the manufacturers believe can be profitably assembled in France: the market is dominated by the B segment, which the French manufacturers have decided not to assemble in France. read more