US authorities must give Peugeot the green light to conclude a $ 50 billion merger with Fiat Chrysler. However, this is an interesting moment as Washington urges its European allies to exclude Huawei from the continent’s 5G telecommunications infrastructure.
Peugeot chief executive Carlos Tavares said yesterday that the French automaker would adjust its partnership with Chinese Huawei if US authorities make it a prerequisite for approving a merger with Fiat Chrysler, sources said, Reuters .
U.S. views Huawei as national threat
At the Munich security conference last month, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper warned that American alliances, including the future of NATO, would be in jeopardy if European countries use technology Huawei in their 5G networks. He also warned that future intelligence cooperation would also be jeopardized as the United States would no longer be certain that its communications networks were secure.
Although France has resisted Huawei’s ban that the U.S. has called for so far, the U.S. continues to push its allies on the issue.
Peugeot wants to follow the American example
“If there were questions or advice from the US authorities, we would be eager to follow them.”
Carlos Tavares, Peugeot.
“We have a partnership with Huawei, which is linked to another partnership with the French telecommunications company Orange, we are not in direct contact with them. But of course on this subject, we will listen to the American authorities and of course we will follow all their instructions, “said Tavares during a conference call Tuesday. “If there were questions or advice from the American authorities, we would be impatient to follow them,” he said.
To date, France has ruled out discrimination against Huawei as a supplier of its 5G networks, and indeed, last week, the Chinese tech giant unveiled its intention to build the first European 5G factory in France.
The partnership between Peugeot and Huawei has been underway since 2017 to develop a cloud-based connected vehicle system. To date, it has been deployed on six million cars in Europe and China.
At a time when the U.S. is constantly reiterating the perceived threat to allow Huawei into 5G networks, and urging its allies to ban the Chinese government, it will be interesting to see if the Peugeot / Fiat Chrysler merger contains an exclusion condition from Huawei.
