“We cannot follow the dogma of an electric car for everyone because it is too expensive,” Carlos Tavares, chief executive of Stellantis, the group created by the merger of Peugeot-Citroën and Fiat-Chrysler, which has blamed the rapid energy transition, told Europe on Monday , reports AFP.

“The decision to sell only electric cars in 2035 (in the EU) has uncontrollable social consequences,” said the head of the group of 14 brands in an interview with the media.

“That level of dogma must now be complemented by a level of pragmatism,” which includes continuing to subsidize hybrid sales, Tavares said.

Stellantis is fully committed to electrifying its lineup with the Peugeot e208 and Fiat 500 leading the way. It wants to halve carbon emissions by 2030 from 2021 and cut them by 90% by 2038.

But offering cars costing less than €20,000 (without bonuses) in the next three to five years is unlikely, “and they certainly won’t be made in France!”, said Carlos Tavares.

While Renault promises an affordable new R5 “made in France”, without details, the electric Peugeot 308 and 3008, which will be built in France, promise to cost more than €20,000.

In this case, “how to protect the freedom of movement of the middle class, who will not be able to buy an electric car? Telling the middle class to go home is politically unmanageable,” Tavares said shortly after welcoming Emmanuel Macron to the Peugeot stand.

“We have to provide a transitional solution” so that the middle class can continue to replace their old cars with hybrid cars that pollute less, but are not yet electric, Mr. Tavares argued.

The Chinese are the strongest rivals

“Social leasing” for electric cars, which the government wants to introduce by the end of 2023, is also a “sensible measure”, even if it should reach 120-150 euros per month instead of the announced 100 euros, according to Tavares.

If prices for electric cars don’t fall, “the real competition will come from the Chinese,” who have a head start on electric cars and are present in large numbers at the Paris Motor Show, Tavares warned.

“Import tariffs on Chinese cars should be symmetrical to tariffs on Western cars in China,” he added, reviewing his industrial presence in the People’s Republic.

When Stellantis was created in 2020, Peugeot-Citroën teamed up with Fiat-Chrysler to “change leagues”, he recalled: “it gives us more means to face the challenges of the future, especially to face the rise of China”.

Speaking of tensions with China and Russia, Tavares warned that if the world bursts into bubbles, vehicle prices could rise.

Rising raw material costs could also put auto companies at risk. “We will see who survives in 2020-2030,” Tavares said.

According to him, Renault is “not in the same league” and is cooperating with the Chinese group AESC Envision for the production of batteries.

Unlike Renault, Stellantis has no plans to separate its combustion and electric operations. “We’re not going to cut the company into pieces, deciding that one part is obsolete in order to work better with another.”

The Portuguese leader worldwide advocates the “freedom of movement” of cars, that’s the name of the forum that he will launch in the spring of 2023. “Today there is an organized movement against the car, it will undermine the freedom of citizens,” concluded Tavares.