PSA Group CEO Says Europe-Based EV Battery Production Needed

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The CEO of the France-based auto manufacturer PSA Group, Carlos Tavares, was recently quoted as saying that the firm was putting its support behind the idea that a Europe-based manufacturer of electric vehicle batteries was needed.

Supporting that viewpoint, Tavares stated that it would be a strategically poor choice to allow the sector to be dominated by Asia-based firms — such as LG Chem, Panasonic, Samsung SDI, CATL, SK Innovation, etc.

The PSA Group CEO was quoted as saying: “We have a strategic interest in avoiding a supply concentration in Asia.”

That was before noting that the company “enthusiastically supports the creation of a European champion in battery development and manufacturing.” These comments came during an economic affairs committee meeting of France’s parliament.

Reuters provides more: “The European Commission is attempting to corral automakers and chemical groups into creating a European leader in its field — citing Airbus in the aerospace sector as an example — that would invest in new regional production.”

“While some carmakers assemble battery packs, Europe has no significant production of their constituent cells — currently dominated by a handful of firms including China’s CATL and Korean rivals LG Chem and Samsung. The European Investment Bank last month approved €52.5 million ($65 million) in funding for Sweden’s Northvolt, which aims to build a battery plant in the country.”

Speaking at the same parliamentary committee, Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance CEO Carlos Ghosn was quoted as saying that while Renault primarily sources its electric vehicle (EV) batteries from LG Chem, room is definitely there to source batteries from a Europe-based producer as EV production is ramped up.

“LG Chem has no monopoly on battery supply contracts,” Ghosn explained. “There is room for a European supplier if it’s competitive.”

Image by EPA/Christophe Petit Tesson


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James Ayre

James Ayre's background is predominantly in geopolitics and history, but he has an obsessive interest in pretty much everything. After an early life spent in the Imperial Free City of Dortmund, James followed the river Ruhr to Cofbuokheim, where he attended the University of Astnide. And where he also briefly considered entering the coal mining business. He currently writes for a living, on a broad variety of subjects, ranging from science, to politics, to military history, to renewable energy.

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