
Stellantis pulls plug on hydrogen fuel cell vans
Jeep-maker Stellantis said Wednesday it was pulling the plug on plans to build light vans using hydrogen fuel cells, saying it saw no prospects for it to be commercially viable.
The company, whose stable of brands also includes Peugeot, Citroen and Fiat, had planned to begin serial production of commercial vans equipped with hydrogen fuel cells this summer at sites in northern France and southern Poland.
'The hydrogen market remains a niche segment, with no prospects of mid-term economic sustainability,' said Jean-Philippe Imparato, Stellantis's chief operating officer for the European region.
The company cited limited availability of hydrogen refuelling infrastructure, high capital requirements, and the need for stronger consumer purchasing incentives.
'We must make clear and responsible choices to ensure our competitiveness and meet the expectations of our customers with our electric and hybrid passenger and light commercial vehicles offensive,' Imparato added.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- Al Jazeera
What has been the impact of Trump's tariffs so far?
United States President Donald Trump's tariffs are set to come into effect on August 1. They mark a significant escalation in US trade policy, leading to higher prices for consumers and bigger financial hits for companies. Trump had initially postponed 'reciprocal tariffs', which he had announced on April 2, giving countries time to reach trade deals with the US. On Sunday, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the August 1 tariffs were a 'hard deadline'. What are the August 1 tariffs? Several countries are facing a slew of tariffs on August 1. While the situation remains dynamic, different levies are going to hit countries ranging from 15 percent on Japan and the European Union to 50 percent on Brazil. Who has struck last-minute deals? Trump has struck a series of bilateral trade deals in the last few days. With the EU, the US secured $750bn in energy purchases and reduced tariffs on steel via a quota system. In exchange, it lowered auto tariffs from 30 percent to 15 percent, applying the same rate to pharmaceuticals and semiconductors. Japan committed $550bn in investments targeting US industries such as semiconductors, AI and energy, while increasing rice imports under a 100,000-tonne duty-free quota. It will also purchase US commodities like ethanol, aircraft and defence goods. Indonesia reportedly agreed to duty-free access for many US products and increased energy and agricultural imports, although Jakarta has only confirmed tariff cuts and key commodity purchases so far. The United Kingdom gained aerospace and auto export benefits, while granting the US duty-free beef quotas and a 1.4 billion litre ethanol quota. China saw its reciprocal tariffs slashed from 145 percent to the baseline 10 percent that was imposed on all countries. In addition, there's a 20 percent punitive tariff for fentanyl trafficking. A temporary pause for the final tariff rate has been extended until August 12 while the two hammer out a deal. China matched the cut and eased non-tariff measures, resuming rare earth exports and accepting Boeing deliveries. Deals with the Philippines, Cambodia and Vietnam also include tariff adjustments and market access, though not all terms have been confirmed by those governments. Which sectors are expected to be hit worst? According to a Reuters news agency tracker, which looks at how companies are responding to Trump's tariff threats, the first-quarter earnings season saw automakers, airlines and consumer goods importers take the worst hit by tariff threats. Levies on aluminium and electronics, such as semiconductors, led to increased costs. 'When you start to see tariffs at 20 or more, you reach a point where firms may stop importing altogether,' Joseph Foudy, an economics professor at the New York University Stern School of Business, told Al Jazeera. 'Firms simply postpone major decisions, delay hiring, and economic activity declines,' Foudy added. Economists widely agree that the impact of tariffs implemented so far has not been fully felt, as many businesses built up their stockpiles of inventories in advance to mitigate rising costs. In an analysis published last month, BBVA Research estimated that even the current level of US tariffs – including a baseline 10 percent duty on nearly all countries, and higher levies on cars and steel – could slow economic growth and reduce global gross domestic product (GDP) by 0.5 of a percentage point in the short term, and by more than 2 percentage points over the medium term. Have prices increased? According to HBS Pricing Lab reports, prices of US-made and imported goods saw modest seasonal declines through early March, with imports falling slightly more. The first 10 percent US tariff on Chinese goods (February 4) had little effect, but prices rose after broader tariffs were imposed on March 4, including a 25 percent tariff on Canadian and Mexican imports and another 10 percent tariff on China. Imported goods prices jumped by 1.2 points, while prices of domestic goods rose by half as much. After a 10 percent global tariff was announced on April 2, 'Liberation Day', and 145 percent on China on April 10, import prices rose more sharply. A brief price dip followed the May 12 tariff rollback on Chinese goods, but trends resumed by June. Overall, import prices rose about 3 percent since March – small compared to headline tariff rates. Have tariffs brought in money? Trump's tariffs have brought in revenue from higher duties paid by importers. Between January 2 to July 25, the US Treasury Department data shows that the US generated $124bn this year from tariffs. This is 131 percent more than the same time last year. In early July, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said this could grow to $300bn by the end of 2025 as collections accelerate from Trump's trade campaign.


Qatar Tribune
3 days ago
- Qatar Tribune
Eurozone growth falters as Germany shrinks, tariff headwinds mount
Agencies Europe's economy barely grew in the second quarter of the year, official data showed on Wednesday, as the rush to ship goods before new U.S. tariffs eased and output in Germany, the region's largest economy, unexpectedly declined. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew an anemic 0.1% compared to the previous quarter in the 20 countries that use the euro currency, the EU statistics agency Eurostat reported. And prospects are mediocre for the coming months, given the 15% tariff, or import tax, imposed on European goods in the U.S. under the EU-U.S. trade deal announced Sunday. The higher tariff will burden European exports with higher costs to either be passed on to U.S. consumers or swallowed in the form of lower profits. The eurozone growth still held up better than feared amid expectations for an unchanged reading in the second quarter, suggesting that businesses are adapting to trade uncertainty, potentially reducing the need for more European Central Bank (ECB) interest rate cuts to stimulate the bloc. Compared to the second quarter a year earlier, the bloc's economy expanded by 1.4%, ahead of expectations for 1.2%. The economy sagged after a stronger-than-expected 0.6% growth in the first quarter, a figure inflated by companies trying to move product ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's additional tariff onslaught that was announced April 2, two days after the first quarter ended. When examined together, however, the first two quarters suggest resilience, supported by the most recent PMI reading, which showed that business activity accelerated faster than forecast, supported by a solid improvement in services and the continued recovery in manufacturing. Europe's economic powerhouse, Germany, unexpectedly shrank by 0.1% from the previous quarter. Italy's economy also contracted by 0.1% in the same period. Growth of 0.3% in France was boosted by a rise in auto and aircraft inventories, while domestic demand was otherwise stagnant. That left Spain as the only strong performer among the four largest eurozone economies at 0.7%. France's Economy Minister Eric Lombard said the figures for France demonstrated the country's companies were, however, proving resilient to U.S. tariff hikes. 'With the 15% U.S. universal tariff likely to subtract around 0.2% from the region's GDP, growth is likely to remain weak in the rest of this year,' said Franziska Palmas, senior Europe economist at Capital Economics. The 27-country EU economy expanded by 0.2% over the April-June period from the previous quarter, after registering 0.5% growth in the first three months of 2025. Germany's economy remains roughly the same size as it was before the pandemic six years ago, as its export-dominated business sector struggles with multiple issues, including stronger competition from China, a lack of skilled workers, higher energy prices, lagging infrastructure investment, and burdensome regulation and bureaucracy. Palmas said that Germany 'is likely to be hit harder than other major economies by tariffs and continue to struggle this year' before increased government spending from the new government under Chancellor Friedrich Merz, aimed at boosting defense and making up the infrastructure gap, starts to boost the economy in 2026. Economists also argue that a sharp increase in budget spending from next year could be a boost to growth that will offset much of the tariffs' impact. This economic resilience is a key factor why financial investors think the ECB is close to done easing borrowing costs after halving its key rate to 2% in the past 13 months. Markets see just a 50% chance of another cut by December and a small chance that rates will actually start rising toward the end of 2026 as the economy gathers speed and price pressure starts rising is far from over, however. The EU has yet to sign its trade deal with the U.S., and plenty of details remain to be worked out, indicating that it could take months for businesses to gain the confidence to make investment decisions. China has also yet to strike a deal with the U.S., raising fears that Beijing will be forced to dump surplus goods on the rest of the world, depressing prices elsewhere. Such dumping could then lower eurozone inflation and force the ECB into cutting interest rates on fears that below-target inflation, its main worry in the pre-pandemic decade, is returning.


Qatar Tribune
4 days ago
- Qatar Tribune
Tariffs and turmoil: Rough road ahead for Europe's carmakers
Agencies European carmakers viewed the trade deal struck with the U.S. as a de-escalation, but were still bracing for damages, which some industry insiders said could reach 'billions.' German auto companies in particular were in for a great deal of export pain, as their share prices indicated. Shares in Porsche, Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz all lost more than 3% in trading on Monday, a day after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, on behalf of the European Union, shook hands with U.S. President Donald Trump, reaching a preliminary trade deal. The agreement eases 'the intense uncertainty surrounding transatlantic trade relations in recent months,' Europe's main auto group, the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA), said in a statement welcoming the deal 'in principle.' But it noted that the 15% U.S. tariffs imposed on EU goods, including cars, 'will continue to have a negative impact not just for industry in the EU but also in the U.S.' German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said his country's economy – the biggest in Europe – would face 'substantial damage' from the U.S. tariffs agreed in the deal. But, he said, 'we couldn't expect to achieve any more.' The U.S. is a key market for European automakers, which last year sent nearly 750,000 of their cars to the U.S., representing nearly a quarter of the sector's overall exports. While the 15% rate is less than the 27.5% tariff Trump imposed in April, it is far higher than the 2.5% levy European car manufacturers faced before Trump's return to the White House. A German analyst, Stefan Bratzel, said it could be expected that U.S. consumers would pay two-thirds of the price hike caused by the tariff, while car exporters would probably swallow the other third. For those companies, 'we might have to see whether it is possible for cost-cutting somewhere else,' he said. The 15% rate was similar to one reached in the deal the U.S. struck with Japan, another major car-exporting country. For German carmakers, the U.S. represents around 13% of their total exports. In the short term, a 15% tariff will cost them 'billions each year,' said Hildegard Mueller, head of the national automobile manufacturers' association VDA. The situation has compelled all automakers to lower their 2025 profit forecasts and seek ways to alleviate the pressure. BMW boss Oliver Zipse suggested in June that Europe could get rid of its own tariffs on imported vehicles made in the U.S. That could benefit his company, which last year exported 153,000 vehicles from the Americas, and imported into Europe 92,000 cars that were assembled in the U.S. Similarly, Mercedes is seeking assistance from the national or EU level. 'The deal reached between the EU and the U.S. is a first, important step that needs to be followed by other measures,' a company spokesperson told Agence France-Presse (AFP). 'Politicians need to keep working to get rid of obstacles getting in the way of free trade. We are counting on the EU and U.S. to continue their constructive dialogue in the future,' she said. Volkswagen is also facing tariff hardship for vehicles it manufactures in Mexico for the U.S. market, announcing that its first quarter results were shaved by around 1.3 billion euros ($1.5 billion) compared to the same period a year earlier. Its Porsche and Audi cars are also exposed as they have no production factories in the U.S. On Monday, Audi reduced its revenue and profit targets for this year, although it expects them to rise next year. Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume has suggested reaching a side deal with the U.S. that would take into account investments his company could make in that country. Volvo Cars, the Swedish carmaker owned by China's Geely Holding, has announced steep second quarter losses because of tariffs. The European auto sector is now lobbying the European Commission to delay the timetable for transitioning the European car market to all-electric and to provide some form of industry stimulus. With no help, European car factories, already facing uphill challenges, 'will have to reduce production,' said Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, director of the Center for Automotive Research. That, he said, could affect up to 70,000 jobs in Germany alone.