Automotive News Europe — 2024-12-07
Automotive Industry
Stellantis said it will rejoin European auto lobby ACEA in a move that might flag a more cautious stance for the automaker on its electrification plans.
Brussels-based ACEA has been the industry’s main lobbying group since its creation in 1991. Its members include car, van, truck and bus makers with operations in Europe. Asian automakers Toyota and Hyundai are among members.
ACEA President Luca de Meo welcomed Stellantis’s application to rejoin the group. “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,” de Meo said in a statement.
De Meo, who is CEO of Renault, currently holds the ACEA presidency, which rotates among member companies.
Stellantis is Europe’s second-largest automaker by vehicle sales after Volkswagen Group. Its European brands include Peugeot, Citroen, Opel and Fiat.
Stellantis’s registrations in the European Union fell 6.9% to 1.51 m through October, according to ACEA data. VW Group sales, including its Audi, Porsche and Skoda brands, rose 2.9% to 2.36 m in the same period.
In a statement from 7 December 2024, Stellantis said said it “confirms that it intends to apply for membership of ACEA.”
Stellantis left ACEA in 2023 following a decision by its former CEO Carlos Tavares.
Tavares had opposed ACEA’s call for the EU to review its CO2 reduction goals for 2025 that could cost automakers who miss their targets billions of euros in fines.
ACEA is lobbying the EU for the targets to be delayed because of a sharp slowdown in electric vehicle demand.
Tavares told journalists in Turin on 17 September 2024 that Stellantis was ready for the 2025 target because it is launching a range of low-cost EVs from Citroen, Opel and Fiat on the group’s Smart Car platform.
Tavares resigned as Stellantis CEO on 1 December 2024 amid criticism of his confrontational style that led to rifts with dealers, suppliers, unions and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government.