MILAN (Reuters) - Stellantis has entered exclusive talks with France's Faurecia and Michelin (EPA:MICP) to buy a "substantial" stake in their Symbio joint venture, a fuel cell system maker for hydrogen mobility, the three companies said on Friday.
Stellantis, the world third-largest carmaker, launched hydrogen-powered mid-size vans late last year and aims to expand its hydrogen offer to large vans in Europe in 2024 and in the U.S. in 2025, "while further exploring opportunities for heavy-duty trucks".
Chief Executive Carlos Tavares said Symbio's technical roadmap "perfectly" matched with Stellantis hydrogen roll-out plans in Europe and in the U.S.
"This move will foster the speed of development to bring low emission products to our customers, beyond traditional electric vehicles" he said in the statement.
Stellantis entry "will accelerate and globalize Symbio's growth," Faurecia's CEO Patrick Koller said.
Earlier this year Symbio announced its HyMotive project to accelerate its industrialization, with a plan to increase total production capacity in France to 100,000 systems per year by 2028 while generating 1,000 additional jobs.
The transaction, for which no financial details were provided, is expected to be finalised in the first half on next year, the three companies said in their statement.