The CEO of Stellantis has come out against the tariffs for Chinese automakers. His claim is that, if it happens, there is no incentive for the companies to innovate and try to match the Chinese on production costs.
In this video I go through how this could affect things long term and the fact that protectionism take the path exactly as he is stating.
▶️ 3Speak
That is very interesting. One would expect Stellantis to be supportive of the tariffs since they can benefit from it. But there is a lot of truth to what you both said. Competition has almost always been good for the consumers.
Competition drives innovation. It forces companies to do what they would otherwise not want to do.
CEOs are naturally going to do what is easiest, especially in this era of short term, one quarter thinking.
The European auto industry is going to head the way of the rest of legacy auto. They are cooked. Expect consolidation, maybe even with the Chinese companies.
Of legacy, the only one with a fighting chance, outside the Koreans who have a strong niche, could be Toyota.
A fascinating video The CEO of Stellantis makes an important argument about how tariffs impede innovation. In the long run, protectionism may impede growth and competition, therefore finding fair trade policy is essential.