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PARIS, Oct 13: Europe\u2019s two auto industry bulwarks, Volkswagen and Stellantis, used this year\u2019s Paris auto show \u200bto signal growing confidence in their electric vehicles, adopting lessons from the Chinese rivals and partners now reshaping their home market.<\/strong><\/p>\n Both companies \u200care undergoing strategic overhauls to address the growing competition of Chinese rivals in the European market, but announcements by Stellantis on Monday also showed more scope for collaboration.<\/p>\n The French-Italian auto group, whose brands in Europe span Citroen, Peugeot, Opel and Fiat, is using its joint ventures with Leapmotor and Dongfeng to study the Chinese competitive edge on technology, Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa told reporters.<\/p>\n \u201cI do not \u200bfully agree with the view that we are missing key capabilities, but there are certainly areas where we can complement each other,\u201d Filosa said.<\/p>\n \u201cBy \u200bworking together and bringing our engineering teams together to understand how to do things better, we can identify where that \u2060competitiveness comes from and learn from it.\u201d<\/p>\n Stellantis entered a production tie-up with Leapmotor earlier this year and plans another with Dongfeng \u200bas part of a strategic shift under Filosa \u2014 partnerships now set to be localised to satisfy incoming \u201cMade in Europe\u201d regulations.<\/p>\n Europe\u2019s transition to EVs has accelerated in recent months, spurred \u200bby rising fuel prices and more affordable models, including from Volkswagen and Stellantis\u2019 mass-market brands. Both are battling to defend their market share against Chinese players expanding rapidly abroad to counter a downturn in their home market.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are seeing how the BEV (battery electric vehicle) is getting traction that we were not expecting one year ago, also in countries like Italy and Spain \u200bwhere the BEV is less adopted,\u201d said Danilo Annese, CEO of Leapmotor International, the Stellantis-led joint venture.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Stellantis\u2019 partnership with Leapmotor includes a mid-sized electric SUV being \u200bdeveloped by the Chinese EV maker and the group\u2019s German brand Opel.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I\u2019m seeing is remarkable speed,\u201d Opel CEO Florian Huettl said of the project, a rare example of a \u200cWestern automaker \u2060drawing directly on a Chinese partner to bring new vehicles to market in as little as two years.<\/p>\n Stellantis also presented a raft of concept vehicles in Paris as part of Filosa\u2019s push to update its model lineup, but Felipe Munoz of Car Industry Analysis said the pressure was still on the automaker to catch up with the Chinese in a rapidly evolving market. \u201cThey don\u2019t need concepts. They need production. Now, not in two years.\u201d<\/p>\n Volkswagen\u2019s turnaround has also been heavily \u200binfluenced by China, which CEO Oliver \u200bBlume has called a \u201cfitness centre\u201d for \u2060the industry.<\/p>\n However, its effects in Europe have been indirect at best. Volkswagen\u2019s partnership with Xpeng (9868.HK), opens new tab focuses on the Chinese market, while cooperation in Europe remains largely hypothetical \u2014 an idea floated previously by Blume to fill excess plant capacity, but with concrete talks \u200byet to emerge.<\/p>\n Partnering with the Chinese in Europe, by giving them access to underused German plants for example, could \u200balso pose risks, by helping \u2060rivals localise production in Europe and comply with regulation designed to protect European automakers.<\/p>\n Blume told an industry conference in Paris on Tuesday he saw no need currently for a Chinese joint venture in Europe.<\/p>\n \u201cUp to now we feel ourselves well prepared with our own opportunities we have ramped up during the last years in China,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Both \u2060Volkswagen and \u200bStellantis \u201care partnering with Chinese players in different ways,\u201d said Stefan Bratzel, an analyst at Germany\u2019s Center \u200bof Automotive Management.<\/p>\n While Volkswagen has focused on partnerships in China, Stellantis\u2019 alliance with Leapmotor is becoming a success story in Europe, he said.<\/p>\n European automakers now had to accept China\u2019s role as \u201ca teacher\u201d for a \u200bwhile, Bratzel said. \u201cFor years it was the Chinese who learned from the Germans. Now that process has to be reversed.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\nPICKING UP SPEED WITH CHINESE PARTNERS<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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THE STUDENT BECOMES THE TEACHER<\/strong><\/h3>\n