Automaker Stellantis is seeking help from the Spanish government to set up one of four STLA electric vehicle production plants. The manufacturer already has the support of Morocco to install one of these factories in the kingdom.
Stellantis wants to build these factories to produce its STLA electric cars from 2025, company sources told Cinco Dias. Currently, the automaker is already assembling electric cars at its three Spanish factories (the Corsa in Zaragoza, the Peugeot 2008 and other commercial vehicles in Vigo, and the C4 in Madrid). But none of these models are made with STLA platforms. Morocco, France and the United Kingdom are ready to welcome these factories.
Spain’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, as well as the authorities of the autonomous communities in which Stellantis has located its factories, met a month ago with the leaders of the manufacturer to discuss possible aid . “Without the help, it will be very difficult to settle in Spain, because other countries like the United Kingdom or Morocco already give us some. And without the STLA, there will be no electric cars and therefore there will be no factories,” the same sources add.
This competition with other countries comes amid weak sales in Europe which Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares says is the result of a slew of car factories on the continent. The Spanish manufacturer also plans to set up a battery factory in Spain. “In 2035, all cars in Europe will have to be electric, because that is what the European Union has decided […]. So of course batteries will have to be made,” Stellantis European COO Uwe Hochgeschurtz told the Paris Motor Show this week.
