A Stellantis sign is seen outside its headquarters in Auburn Hills,
Reuters

Automaker Stellantis is in talks to buy a controlling stake in the hydrogen fuel cell company Symbio, a Fauerecia-Michelin joint venture and leader in the industry.

Stellantis has already launched hydrogen-powered mid-size vans through its various car brands and aims to continue "exploring [hydrogen-powered] opportunities for heavy-duty trucks."

That's where Symbio comes in, as the company has focused on developing hydrogen fuel cell trucks after being awarded $2 million by the California Energy Commission in April.

"Symbio's technical roadmap perfectly matches with Stellantis' hydrogen roll-out plans in Europe and in the U.S.," said Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares in a joint statement. "This move will foster the speed of development to bring low emission products to our customers, beyond traditional electric vehicles."

The fuel cell company previously announced plans to increase total production capacity in France to 100,000 systems a year by 2028 through its HyMotive project. This would allow the company to expand its capacity in the American and European markets.

"Michelin is convinced that hydrogen fuel cell technology will make an effective contribution to decarbonizing mobility and even beyond," Michelin CEO Florent Menegaux said, pointing out that Michelin has been a "pioneer in this [decarbonizing] technology for more than 20 years" and that Stellantis investing in Symbio would "reinforce this conviction and would catalyze the tremendous industrial momentum we have built with Faurecia."

Faurecia's CEO Patrick Koller echoed this sentiment in the joint statement. "By the intention of acquiring a stake in Symbio, Stellantis confirms the robustness of Michelin and Faurecia's approach to creating a global leader in zero-emission mobility. The new setup will accelerate and globalize Symbio's growth to the benefit of its customers."

No financial details were provided in the statement. The transaction is expected to be completed in the first half of 2023.

Chrysler