LAS VEGAS/RÜSSELSHEIM (dpa-AFX) - The head of Opel parent company Stellantis has called on the EU to better protect the European auto industry from emerging competition from China. "The price difference between European and Chinese vehicles is significant. If nothing is done to change the current situation, European customers from the middle class will increasingly turn to Chinese models," Carlos Tavares told Automobilwoche magazine on the sidelines of the CES trade show in Las Vegas.

Without EU intervention, European carmakers face a scenario similar to that of the solar panel industry, warned the head of Europe's second-largest auto group after Volkswagen, with numerous brands such as Peugeot, Fiat and Opel. He said EU regulation currently leads to about 40 percent higher costs in the domestic production of electric cars.

"If you keep the European market open, then we have no choice: then we have to fight directly against the Chinese," Tavares said. That applies to the entire automotive value chain, he said, with significant consequences. Capacities would have to be cut in Europe and production would have to be relocated to more favorable sites. Another way would be to re-industrialize Europe, bringing back lost industries and production chains. German industry in particular is opposed to a change in EU trade policy, which would be necessary to achieve this, he said.

German manufacturers have a much stronger China business than the Stellantis Group, which is struggling with sales problems and recently closed a Jeep plant in China. At the Paris Motor Show, France's President Emmanuel Macron issued an industrial policy goal of making his country a great car nation again as it shifts to electric cars. Macron also spoke of re-industrialization in this context and announced government support for domestic manufacturers./ceb/DP/jha