Stellantis’ Mangualde unit has started producing electric vehicles after investing around 30 million euros to adapt the factory, the group’s CEO, Carlos Tavares, said on Tuesday.
The Portuguese factory will ensure the production of eight 100% electric models in the passenger and light commercial versions of the Citroën ë-Berlingo and ë-Berlingo Van, Peugeot E-Partner and E-Rifter, Fiat e-Doblò and Opel Combo-e. Models for the domestic and export markets.
Last year, Carlos Tavares had announced the production of battery electric vehicles for early 2025, but this goal has been brought forward.
Speaking to reporters at the end of the event that marked the start of production of these vehicles on Tuesday, Carlos Tavares said that he has no forecast of how many will leave the factory each year, because “that depends entirely on the order book, it is decided by the customers.”
“Today we celebrate one of them,” said the official, referring to the order of 719 cars for the National Health Service (NHS).
According to Carlos Tavares, as seen in Germany and Italy, The order book “depends entirely on the subsidies that European governments want to give to the middle class” buy electric vehicles.”
“The order book of a European company like ours is usually around three months of orders. I have a very clear idea of the cars I will produce in the next three months and I can say that, at a European level, our mix of electric vehicle sales is in the range of 12 to 14% of total sales. At the level of this factory, it depends on the orders we receive,” he said.
Stellantis CEO explained that “All you have to do is create an industrial process that is flexible and can absorb variations,” which is what happened in Mangualde.
“When we have an order for 719 vehicles for the SNS, we will try to manufacture all 719 vehicles at once, one after the other. For a certain period of time we will only manufacture electric vehicles,” he said.
According to Carlos Tavares, Mangualde has “a very flexible factory to be able to absorb the variations in orders that are a consequence of European policies regarding subsidies for the purchase of electric vehicles.”
“In Europe today, as soon as subsidies for electric vehicles are reduced, European consumers stop asking for electric vehicles,” he said.
In Mangualde, Stellantis is equipped “to manufacture from scratch to 100% electric vehicles,” said Carlos Tavares, adding that this year the factory should “break another new production record, in the order of 87 thousand vehicles,” compared to 82 thousand last year.
Carlos Tavares told reporters that the Mangualde factory “has demonstrated excellent performance in terms of quality and cost” and has “a very flexible assembly line.”
“We either mount a thermal chassis under the car or an electric chassis. At the assembly line level, flexibility is almost total,” he explained.
Mangualde’s Stellantis led one of the agendas mobilizing business innovation with the “GreenAuto” projectwhich brings together a consortium of 37 partner entities and represents a joint investment of 119 million euros.
The Mangualde unit underwent significant transformations in its industrial area, highlighting those carried out in the creation of a new battery assembly line, which promoted the total modernization of an area of more than 800 square meters. This new area, implemented in the manufacturing sector, allowed the creation of 63 new jobs.
“We have made this decision because we believe that the Mangualde factory has great potential in terms of quality and good cost competitiveness, which is currently even better than the Vigo factory. Therefore, There is no reason not to hand over to the Mangualde factory the manufacturing of vehicles that represent the future”, he is stressed.
Source: Observadora
