2024-09-03 16:29:34
Taxes to protect European industry from the onslaught of Chinese power companies ended up acting like a boomerang against the very industry they wanted to protect. Wayne Griffiths, CEO of Seat and Cuprahas been very enthusiastic today saying that the application of taxes in the European area to electric cars ‘made in China’ could, by contrast, do a great harm to the Spanish brand such as Seat, made into the Volkswagen group.
The problem is based on the Tavascan model, already in production in Anhui, 100% electric Cupra to which, now, and despite the fact that it is a car made in Spain and on the VW platform, costs 21.1%. Griffiths has been clear: “The numbers don’t come out.” Brussels established a between 17% and 38% depending on the characteristics of the vehicle and the cooperation of the suppliers.
The president and director of Cupra have stated that they have been in contact with the European authorities to get an exclusive with Tavascan, as we have already done with Tesla, – which has managed to reduce the price to 9% on cars manufactured in its Shanghai plant. If this reduction or elimination does not occur, it is not the launch of Tavascan itself that is at risk, but the viability of the brand as a whole. It happens that the Cupra Tavascan is the only car in it Volkswagen group which is manufactured in China. It suffers the same problem as BMW’s Electric Mini, which, starting from a penalty of 38.1%, found, like Tavascan, and after protests from both manufacturers, the price reduced to 21.1%.
«I hope that the Government of Spain changes its position and finds it individual solution for our case, “indicates the CEO. Company sources told ABC that the forecast of both the Government and Brussels is comprehensive, but now specific is important.
Prices, on the one hand, compromise the profitability of the Tavascan itself, while, with a price tag of 52,000 euros, the Cupra will stop receiving 10,000 euros per car. “We will sell at a loss,” explained the CEO, who has put another problem on the table, the possibility that without the Tavascan brand as a whole it will not be able to meet the goals of reducing emissions in the coming years. “We will have to reduce the production in Spain of combustion cars to avoid penalties,” he hoped.
« They are taxes designed to protect the European industry, and they work like quite the opposite“, Griffiths emphasized this afternoon in Barcelona, the city where the world presentation of its new Cupra Terramar model took place.
The leaders of the company have once again felt a big boost from the management to the electrification of the mobile fleet in Spainespecially when in 2026 the Martorell plant will have produced the highest volume of electric cars. “It’s worrying,” he said.
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