WEBVTT - Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios.

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<v Speaker 2>Podcasts, radio, news.

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<v Speaker 3>Possibly a bit of short covering in the autos this morning.

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<v Speaker 3>The EU and China have agreed to cap imports of

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<v Speaker 3>hybrid vehicles as part of a 16-point consensus on trade

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<v Speaker 3>and investment. The deal comes as industry leaders gather at

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<v Speaker 3>the Paris car show. So we're getting some instant analysis

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<v Speaker 3>on this deal. Carolyn Kernan is standing by with a

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<v Speaker 3>bit more.

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<v Speaker 1>And I'm on the Peugeot stand, which is one of

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<v Speaker 1>14 brands owned by Stellantis. Also includes DS, Citroën, Fiat, Chrysler, Jeep.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm extremely happy to be joined by the Stellantis CEO himself,

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<v Speaker 1>Antonio Filosa, for, I believe, your first interview on Bloomberg

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<v Speaker 1>TV since you took over. So we're here at the

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<v Speaker 1>Peugeot stand. You have a massive presence at the car show.

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<v Speaker 1>What are you trying to do here? to keep these

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<v Speaker 1>historical cars attractive?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, the first thing that we are trying to do

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<v Speaker 2>is to have fun with our visitors, right? So we

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<v Speaker 2>have here an overall booth of 5,000 square meters. Our

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<v Speaker 2>brands will present 60 products, 9 concept cars, that are

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<v Speaker 2>very significant and meaningful for them. What we are doing

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<v Speaker 2>here is to show that our strategy that we presented

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<v Speaker 2>five months ago, which is Fastlane 2030, now is on track,

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<v Speaker 2>because we see the products that are coming. And this

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<v Speaker 2>is the impact that we want to create through our brands,

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<v Speaker 2>with our products, great technology to our consumers.

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<v Speaker 1>Obviously, at the same time, we have 20 Chinese brands

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<v Speaker 1>present here at the car show. It's also a record.

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<v Speaker 1>And we just found out from the EU they're going

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<v Speaker 1>to put in place some new restrictions on Chinese hybrids

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<v Speaker 1>imported to the EU and cap the numbers at 350,000

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<v Speaker 1>cars per year. Is that good news for you? How

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<v Speaker 1>are you going to take advantage of this?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, 20 Chinese automakers at Paris, obviously it's a record,

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<v Speaker 2>but the record that we want to celebrate most is

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<v Speaker 2>our largest showcase at Stellantis in any auto show in

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<v Speaker 2>our history. This is the record that we want to celebrate.

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<v Speaker 2>And among the 20 Chinese automakers, there is one which

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<v Speaker 2>is also Stellantis, Leap Motor, our partner, and we are

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<v Speaker 2>happy with that. So what we really want on that

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<v Speaker 2>specific element is... level playing field. So what we want

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<v Speaker 2>is a set of regulations, maybe these are very good

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<v Speaker 2>milestones to start, but then a set of regulations that

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<v Speaker 2>grants to everybody that want to compete in Europe to

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<v Speaker 2>compete at the same level. What does it mean? means

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<v Speaker 2>a set of regulations that rewards the automakers that design

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<v Speaker 2>cars in Europe, that engineer R &amp; D cars in Europe,

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<v Speaker 2>that produce cars in Europe, and they use suppliers that

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<v Speaker 2>are based in Europe. Level playing field is what we want.

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<v Speaker 2>The milestone of three days ago was a good milestone

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<v Speaker 2>to pass.

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<v Speaker 1>So do you think this is where we're going to

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<v Speaker 1>achieve with that deal in four years' time? Because that

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<v Speaker 1>deal is for four years. We're going to have this

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<v Speaker 1>rebalancing level playing field with China?

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<v Speaker 2>This is just the first step. The second step is

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<v Speaker 2>to go deep into the Made in Europe regulation. This

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<v Speaker 2>is the really game changer. Made in Europe will ensure

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<v Speaker 2>level playing field together with the buy zone that has

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<v Speaker 2>been crossed last week.

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<v Speaker 1>Obviously, you're also showcasing your Chinese partner, Leap Motor, just

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<v Speaker 1>behind us. You're going to put some Leap Motors technology

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<v Speaker 1>in some of your brands, starting with Opel, may go

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<v Speaker 1>with other brands as well. Could Stellantis actually eventually sell

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<v Speaker 1>more cars, Chinese-designed cars, in Europe than actually European-designed cars?

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<v Speaker 2>No, no, I don't think so. So this is a partnership, right?

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<v Speaker 2>So as a good partner, we share knowledge, number one.

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<v Speaker 2>We are sharing already capacity in Saragossa, for instance, we

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<v Speaker 2>are looking at more, number two. And also we are

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<v Speaker 2>sharing distribution. But it's just one part of what's the

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<v Speaker 2>land is in Europe. Mainly, the land is in Europe

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<v Speaker 2>is the brands that we have in Europe. And they

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<v Speaker 2>will be made in Europe. So they will have... great

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<v Speaker 2>European designers, great European engineers, great European plants, great European

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<v Speaker 2>suppliers that will work for those brands together.

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<v Speaker 1>Are you going to look for more Chinese partners or

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<v Speaker 1>perhaps work on some of your plants in Southern Europe?

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<v Speaker 1>Are you talking to the likes of BYD, for example?

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<v Speaker 2>We are talking with Lipmodo for sure. We are talking

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<v Speaker 2>with Domfeng for sure. And that's all to start. What

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<v Speaker 2>we want to do is a lot of things. One

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<v Speaker 2>is to share capacity where we see excess of capacity

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<v Speaker 2>in some of our plants. We don't close plants. We

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<v Speaker 2>don't have any plan to close plants. But we acknowledge

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<v Speaker 2>that there are excess of capacities in some plants. And

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<v Speaker 2>the solution for that is good partnership. So we invite

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<v Speaker 2>them to produce that car. We decide together so they

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<v Speaker 2>cannot compete with our cars in that plant. to give

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<v Speaker 2>jobs to the people that are there, to give volumes

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<v Speaker 2>to the suppliers that are there.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you think that perhaps Stellantis has too many brands?

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<v Speaker 1>You have 14 brands. Do you think that's possible? Some

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<v Speaker 1>analysts are talking about a possible split, for example, between

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<v Speaker 1>Europe and the US. Is that a plausible scenario? Is

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<v Speaker 1>that something? What's your reaction to this?

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<v Speaker 2>It is not plausible at all. So our strategy is

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<v Speaker 2>based on having all the brands playing their unique role,

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<v Speaker 2>but all of them enjoy transversal technology. So we globally

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<v Speaker 2>develop technologies for all the brands. Those are powertrains, those

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<v Speaker 2>are platforms, those are central computing architectures. This is one

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<v Speaker 2>investment only for all, and then each brand will, on

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<v Speaker 2>top of those stacks, build their own road, their own path.

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<v Speaker 2>But we don't see any plausible scenario to go in

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<v Speaker 2>the direction that you just mentioned.

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<v Speaker 1>How about selling some of the brands? Could some of

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<v Speaker 1>them go? Is Maserati an option?

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<v Speaker 2>Not at all. Not at all.

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<v Speaker 1>Obviously, despite all these efforts, the shares are still down

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<v Speaker 1>compared to when you had the Fiat and Chrysler merger

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<v Speaker 1>with Peugeot Citroën. That was in 2021. The shares are

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<v Speaker 1>still down about 70% since that. Do you think they

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<v Speaker 1>have reached the bottom?

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<v Speaker 2>I don't know. I think that we need to keep

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<v Speaker 2>working day by day on our execution. I believe that

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<v Speaker 2>we already crossed the point to be profitable again. Last year,

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<v Speaker 2>we lost money. This year, in H1, we closed at

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<v Speaker 2>profitable H, which is a good step forward. And we

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<v Speaker 2>need to keep progressing from there.

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<v Speaker 1>With the EV sales boom that we are seeing recently,

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<v Speaker 1>is that going to bring back some share price up?

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<v Speaker 2>We really are multi-energy in our approach. So we bet

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<v Speaker 2>a lot and we invest a lot on EV for sure,

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<v Speaker 2>but also we have investment in our kind of powertrains.

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<v Speaker 2>I believe that we need to make our consumer happy

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<v Speaker 2>so they will buy more of our cars. To have

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<v Speaker 2>the customer at the center of our execution, at the

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<v Speaker 2>center of everything we do, is the fundamental step to

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<v Speaker 2>have all the rest.

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<v Speaker 1>One of the cars you're also presenting here, and I'm

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<v Speaker 1>very excited about this because my husband has an old one,

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<v Speaker 1>is a Citroën 2CV, 2CV. That's going to be unveiled

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<v Speaker 1>later today. So that's a concept car, electric version. It's

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<v Speaker 1>going to come out in... 2028, correct me if I'm wrong.

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<v Speaker 3>More or less.

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<v Speaker 1>So is that, obviously we had the R5 at Renault,

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<v Speaker 1>which was also about reviving an iconic car. Is that

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<v Speaker 1>what you're trying to do? You also hired some designer

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<v Speaker 1>from Renault.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>Is that what you're trying to do, the new 2CV?

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<v Speaker 2>What I want to have through the new 2CV is

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<v Speaker 2>Citroën expressing the best of what the brand can express, right?

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<v Speaker 2>So obviously 2CV is a very big icon in France,

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<v Speaker 2>but not only in the world, I must say. That

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<v Speaker 2>was a nice project to work on that first. 2CV

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<v Speaker 2>is going to be very affordable, because it's going to

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<v Speaker 2>be sold at around 15,000 euros. It's going to be European,

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<v Speaker 2>because we really believe in made in Europe. It's going

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<v Speaker 2>to be ecological, because it's electric. It will be built

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<v Speaker 2>on the e-car, which is one of the global platforms

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<v Speaker 2>that we have for our future, so a lot of elements.

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<v Speaker 2>that make 2CV very special to us. So I invite

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<v Speaker 2>you to see the Enville, and we have also another

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<v Speaker 2>surprise in that booth. So go there.

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<v Speaker 1>We will definitely come back for this. Thank you so much,

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<v Speaker 1>Antonio Filosa, from the Peugeot stand at the Paris Car

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<v Speaker 1>Show for Stellantis' biggest presence ever at this car show.