Total says batteries investment depends on level playing field with Asia
23/11/2018 16:34
PARIS, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Oil and gas major Total TOTF.PA
will invest heavily in car battery production only if it can
compete on a level playing field with Chinese and Asian
manufacturers, its chief executive said on Friday.
Battery maker Saft, a unit of Total, said in May that it
planned to invest more than 200 million euros ($233 million) in
a next-generation European battery alliance project to research,
develop and build a new generation solid-state battery to
compete with Asian and U.S. rivals. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N1SW5E4
Saft's four-way alliance with Siemens SIEGn.DE , Solvay
SOLB.BR and Manz M5ZG.DE plans to begin mass production of
new generation lithium-ion batteries from early 2020, but Total
CEO Patrick Pouyanne is concerned that European manufacturers
would be operating at a disadvantage to Asian rivals.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N1VX4TZ
"I will not launch the group and Saft in operations worth
several billion euros if in the end we do not have the fair
competitive framework between us and others," Pouyanne said at a
conference in Paris, adding that some Chinese manufacturers
benefit from state aid.
Several projects have been announced in recent months to
build battery plants in Europe and last week the German
government said it had set aside about 1 billion euros to
support battery cell production.
"Today, if you want to provide an electric vehicle in China
with a battery, it must be built in China by a Chinese
manufacturer," Pouyanne said.
"That's a problem and for now the dialogue we're having with
European governments is to know if we can protect ourselves like
that in Europe."
France called on Thursday for European battery manufacturers
and carmakers to create a consortium able to meet the growing
demand for electric vehicles and compete with dominant Asian
producers. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1XX2XQ
Pouyanne said it was out of the question for the sector to
replicate what happened in the solar panel industry, where
European companies invested heavily only to close down in the
face of Chinese competition.
(Reporting by Benjamin Mallet
Writing by John Irish
Editing by Bate Felix and David Goodman)
((john.irish@thomsonreuters.com; 0033-1 49 49 53 42;))