Stellantis CEO Warns Of EV "Bloodbath" If Carmakers Follow Musk's Lead

As EV demand cools, Elon Musk has stayed ahead of the field by cutting prices for Tesla’s flagship cars and sacrificing profitability to boost demand. But a competing CEO warned of a possible “red ocean” if its competitors follow suit, Dylan Sloan reported for Fortune.

Stellantis is aggressively executing its EV strategy but he is prepared to shift gears if need be, depending on the results of the US presidential election and the European parliamentary elections later this year. I Photo: Stellantis Facebok

Carlos Tavares, CEO of Chrysler parent company Stellantis, cautioned against a “race to the bottom” among EV manufacturers after competitor Ford announced it would cut back production and lay off workers making its F-150 Lightning electric truck.

“If you go and cut pricing disregarding the reality of your costs, you will have a bloodbath. I am trying to avoid a race to the bottom," Tavares said at an Amsterdam event on Friday, where he also unveiled Stellantis’ new large-platform battery system.

Reporting for the Detroit Free Press, Jamie L. LaReau stressed that Tavares said Stellantis is aggressively executing its EV strategy but he is prepared to shift gears if need be, depending on the results of the US presidential election and the European parliamentary elections later this year.

“I have prepared two scenarios based on what would be the results of those major elections in the US and Europe and I am prepared for both," Tavares said.

"One is an acceleration scenario for BEVs (battery electric vehicles) and one is a slowdown for BEVs… In this industry, we have faced crisis after crisis, so we don’t have room to be afraid anymore."

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