Europe needs less regulation and a better industrial strategy to sustain car manufacturing in the face of the “very clear direction” set by Donald Trump’s administration and growing Chinese competition, the chiefs of Stellantis and Renault have warned.
“Europe needs to decide what it wants to do in terms of its industrial policy,” Stellantis chair John Elkann told the FT’s Future of the Car summit on Thursday. “Does it want to be a [bloc] that builds cars or [one that] buys cars? That’s a decision that the political forces need to make.”
In a joint interview with Renault chief executive Luca de Meo, Elkann added that the Trump administration had been more effective in setting out a policy to boost car manufacturing despite the chaotic implementation of his tariffs.