Michelin's "Hydrogen" Business Under Threat
In early 2021, Michelin announced the launch of a new corporate strategy, under which the company intends to increase the share of non-tire products in its total turnover to 20-30% by 2030, in order to become "more flexible and resilient to future crises". As part of the strategy, called Michelin in Motion, the company is developing a business for the production of hydrogen fuel cells for the automotive industry - "more hydrogen, less carbon", as Michelin's head Florent Menegaux said - however, its fate is now in question, since Stellantis, one of the three participants in the joint venture called Symbio, unexpectedly announced to other shareholders that it is stopping work in this direction. At the same time, about 80% of the planned production volume of Symbio accounts for orders from Stellantis.
In a statement, Stellantis said that the hydrogen fuel cell technology development program will be discontinued due to limited infrastructure availability for charging cars, high investment costs, and the need to strengthen consumer interest incentives, and the company does not expect an increase in the popularity of hydrogen cars until the end of the current decade. For this reason, Stellantis no longer plans to release a new line of hydrogen cars Pro One, the serial production of which was to begin in the summer of 2025 in Ordean (France) and Gliwice (Poland).
According to Jean-Philippe Imparato, Stellantis' operational director for "Expanded Europe", hydrogen cars "remain a niche segment that does not have prospects in terms of economic sustainability in the medium term". "We must make a clear and responsible choice to ensure our competitiveness and meet the expectations of our customers by developing the sector of electric and hybrid passenger and light commercial vehicles," he said.
Stellantis added that the decision to exit the "hydrogen" business will not affect the personnel of the company's production sites and noted that "the current state of this segment creates financial difficulties for the participants". "In connection with this, Stellantis has started negotiations with Symbio's shareholders to assess the possible consequences and ensure the protection of the interests of the parties in accordance with the assumed obligations," the company said in a statement.
Michelin noted that together with Forvia - the third shareholder of Symbio - they were informed in May that Stellantis was curbing its hydrogen-related activities, which was unexpected, since "the company is both a co-owner and the main customer of Symbio and has long sought to form a market for hydrogen commercial vehicles".
"Over the past two years, Symbio has determined its investments, personnel hiring, and development roadmap in accordance with Stellantis' needs for the next eight years," Michelin said. "Symbio's technologies and product efficiency have been approved by all shareholders, including Stellantis. Recently, as part of the competition announced by the French government, Symbio was fully ready to produce hydrogen fuel cells for Stellantis cars under this program."
Michelin's statement also says that Stellantis' decision will have "irreversible financial consequences for Symbio". "Michelin and Forvia are particularly concerned about the impact of this decision on the work of 590 Symbio employees in France and another 50 abroad," the company emphasized.
In May 2023, it was announced that Symbio is opening the largest hydrogen fuel cell production plant in Europe in France. The declared capacity of the enterprise in Saint-Fons (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) was 16,000 units of products, and it was planned to triple it by 2026.