4:41 pm, March 13, 2025
The boss of Stellantis has said the UK is ‘not necessarily open for business’ as he defended the firm’s decision to close its historic plant in Luton.
Car Dealer reported last month that the carmaker had confirmed the closure of the Bedfordshire site, placing around 1,100 jobs at risk.
The topic inevitably came up at Car Dealer Live, where Stellantis’s UK boss Eurig Druce was speaking as part of our car manufacturer panel.
Druce, who was appointed as the firm’s UK group MD last October, said that company was in a ‘really really tough position’ when it came to axing the 120-year-old facility.
He also hinted at frustration with the fact that government support was not more forthcoming and questioned whether the UK is currently ‘open for business’ amid concerns about investment into the country.
‘First and foremost, nobody comes into this industry to be in a scenario where you have to close plants,’ Druce said at the British Motor Museum.
‘It’s a really really tough position for us to have to do. It’s not something we enjoy doing. Clearly we would prefer to be in a position with the UK where we can invest, and of course we are investing into UK production.’
He added: ‘We are trying to get a scenario where we can grow our manufacturing volumes here in the UK.
‘We have invested €50m into Ellesmere Port to create a single footprint for our manufacturing here in the UK and to and to build both small and medium sized electric vans.
‘The UK is not necessarily open for business. Increasingly we see some of the impact of decisions, particularly in regards to things like Brexit.
‘We have to make sure that we have continued free trade with Europe for example because there is very little point manufacturing in the UK for UK supply alone. That [exports] is what generates the boost to GDP which we need in the UK.’
‘If you live in a terraced house, then you have to pay more taxation’
Prior to announcing the planned closure, late last year, Stellantis had been locked in talks with the government about the impact of the ZEV Mandate on car manufacturers.
Speaking with Car Dealer’s James Batchelor, Druce insisted that the outfit is not looking to scrap the mandate altogether.
However, he insisted that the current targets are ‘out of sync’ with consumer demand for EVs.
Sitting alongside Renault boss Adam Wood, Druce called for changes to taxation laws and questioned what the government’s approach to EVs said about the wider state of the UK.
He said: ‘I think it’s well known that we were in discussions with the government for a long time with regards to the impact of the ZEV Mandate and looking for support – not to change the ZEV Mandate or to change the transition to electric.’
‘To be completely clear, we’re fully supportive of the transition to going electric but what we can’t have though is a scenario where a piece of government legislation is out of sync with consumer demand and is the same time not not as created as part of a 360 plan.
‘Make no mistake, the transition of going from petrol or diesel power to an electric vehicle – that kind of change in technology will only happen once every three or four generations.
‘If we want the general public of the UK to make that transition it’s not enough to say your aim as a manufacturer is that you have to sell 28% of electric vehicles this year.
‘I can do that, I’ll just stop selling maybe some ICE vehicles for example. It’s a dumb way of doing it but that is a way you can hit a mix target.
‘We need a plan for charging infrastructure. They [the government] will say, as an example, that “we’re on track. We’ve got 75,000 public charges in the UK right now”, but I feel strongly that the charging infrastructure needs to be well ahead of the supply of the vehicles so we have absolute confidence that wherever you go, you can charge.
‘You need taxation laws on charging which allow you to charge in public at the same VAT range as at home Otherwise, we’re a country that fundamentally says, if you’re rich and you have a four bedroom detached house with a driveway, charge cheaply but if you live in a terraced house, then you have to pay more taxation.’
Despite his comments, Druce was keen to point out the government’s recent support and investment into Ellesmere Port but called for quicker ‘speed of action’ from the current administration.
He also said that ‘there are things that can be done that would help us grow the UK economy – UK PLC – and make this transition [to EVs] at the same time’.
He added: ‘I think whether its Adam [Wood] and myself on stage or any other brands in the UK, the majority of us have done our side of the 360 climb that I was talking about.
‘We’ve got cars mid £10,000 starting range for electric vehicle transition right now, you have the Vauxhall Frontera which is at price parity with the petrol version at £23,000 for a C segment SUV electric.
‘That will help, of course, but it’s not going to be enough to make this kind of multi generational change.’
