Sergio Marchionne isn’t the kind of guy to shy away from speaking his mind, and in a recent interview, the FCA CEO questioned Tesla’s business model once again, stating that electric cars aren’t necessarily the answer, or the future.
Just like the beginning of the 20st century, car manufacturers are experimenting with different powertrains and intriguing autonomous technology, while the electric craze is once again in full swing. Be that as it may, the 64-year-old industry captain reckons that the answer of future motoring is still out there, as he explained in an interview with Car Magazine
“This industry is at a crossroads. I don’t think any of us has an idea as to what the right answer is. To me, the biggest issue is the impact technology has on what we are doing. Like the formation of a driverless environment, which is a mandatory future option and not even expensive. Products will go through a cycle of becoming either technologically obsolete or technologically relevant. The car already recognizes who you are, it’s one of the main interfaces between the world that you are in and the world beyond. All this stuff is here to stay, it is going to be available at the speed of light, so we must act like a flash.”
When asked if the classic combustion engine is on its way out, the leader of the seventh-largest automotive manufacturer responded that its relevance will decrease, but will still remain an important driver for mobility. As far as “electrification” goes Marchionne said it may very well be the next big thing, albeit he doesn’t know how it can be a long term, profitable, business model, even though Tesla has managed to create an icon with its upmarket products:
“Welcome to the world of icons! I don’t make iPhones. I make cars. Why don’t I make the iPhone of cars? Because if it looks and smells like Tesla, I don’t know how to make that economic model work. There is nothing Tesla do that we cannot also do. We build cars, sell them and are still able to pay the bills. But I’m not even sure you can recover all of your costs – let alone generate a profit – through electrification. The answer is bound to be somewhere else, and the question is whether we are doing enough to try to explore that somewhere else.”
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