Stellantis on the gigafactory and public collaboration: “It would be impossible to do it alone”

“ It is impossible to do it alone . The big event in December 2024 with the announcement of the gigafactory would not be there without public-private collaboration.” This was the emphatic statement made by the director of the Stellantis plant in Figueruelas (Zaragoza), Susana Remacha, during the second edition of the Sustainable Mobility Forum, which was held in collaboration with CEOE Aragón and the Ibercaja Foundation this Tuesday in the bridge pavilion of the Aragonese capital. The Sustainable Mobility Commission of the Business Confederation was held previously. 

Within the framework of this business meeting as a forum for future debate on the opportunities and challenges facing the mobility sector, Remacha has received on behalf of Stellantis the Empresa Mobilty 2025 award in recognition of the company’s long history in Figueruelas, which began back in 1982. In addition, 
Benito Tesier, director of Brembo Iberia and president of the Automotive Cluster in Aragon (CAAR) has received the Honor Mobility 2025 award.

STELLANTIS, LIFETIME AWARD

In a sector plagued by uncertainties for the near future, efficiency at work and remaining competitive are seen as key to tackling “the third industrial revolution” that involves reinvention towards the electric vehicle. This was stated by the first woman to lead the Figueruelas plant, Susana Remacha, from Mobilty City, who admitted that it is a “complicated” time but that Stellantis is trying to move forward through the wide range of models that are manufactured in Zaragoza (up to 40 at present). 

“This award is a stimulus but we have to continue. There is a lot of competition and we have to be efficient. Without it there is no future ,” Remacha stressed, who, precisely with regard to what is yet to come, highlighted the importance that public-private collaborations are gaining. 

He has thus alluded to the regional and state aid that has allowed the landing of the gigafactory that will begin to be built in a few months next to the current Stellantis plant in Zaragoza . Without this institutional support through the DGA and the Central Government with the Perte del Vehículo Eléctrico y Conectado (VEC) , he said, it would be impossible. “We are all a team,” he pointed out while advocating the need to have a “robust and complete” network of suppliers as key elements and thus guarantee this efficiency and competitiveness within the sector. 

BENITO TESIER, HONORARY AWARD

In turn, the head of CAAR and director at Brembo Iberia, Benito Tesier, has collected his award, proud of being from Aragon and, above all, of “ making Aragon better ”. “I feel absolutely proud of what we are capable of doing here,” he said. 

With a business vocation since childhood, Tesier has highlighted the role of his father in transmitting the values ​​that have led him to represent Brembo. The renowned businessman has also taken the opportunity to review the history of Brembo and its evolution since its arrival in Europe in the 1990s. “ The brake was not pretty and we sensualised it. We made it attractive and with that we provoked the striptease of the rims ”, he explained with a laugh, highlighting the commitment to innovation and design that is so important in this business field. 

For Tesier, the automotive industry is already a global sector in constant transformation that is now facing the challenge of electrification. “ We have no other choice but to constantly take on the challenge. We have to reinvent ourselves ,” he insisted, convinced that the Aragonese industry in the sector is doing its homework well but that there is still much to do.

Nor has it overlooked the role of institutions associated with the sector that allow the protection of business interests in those offices where regulatory decisions are made and which companies otherwise “would not be able to reach.” 

AZCÓN ASSURES THAT ARAGON IS A LAND OF OPPORTUNITIES

During the closing ceremony, the President of the Government of Aragon, Jorge Azcón, defined Stellantis as “the heart” and the work of auxiliary businessmen such as Benito Tesier as “the extremities” of the automobile industry in Aragon. According to the leader of the DGA, the imminent creation of the gigafactory anchors a driving sector that has been established for decades in the community and allows for projection into the future, opening the door for other companies to notice this “land of opportunities”. 

He referred to the wide range of resources, talent and logistical competitiveness that Aragon offers to companies looking for a place to prosper. “This event serves to highlight what we are. I am grateful to all of you who are dedicated to this sector and the commitment of the DGA is key,” stressed the Aragonese leader, who also assured that the process for the construction of the new electric battery factory will be ready in six months .

The mayor of Zaragoza, Natalia Chueca, has taken the opportunity to celebrate that Zaragoza is a “reference” and also an “epicenter” at a continental level in terms of sustainable mobility thanks to a space such as Mobility City, but also motivated by the decisions that keep it in the race to be one of the six climate-neutral European cities by 2030. She exemplified Chueca with the push for electric bicycles that is being carried out in the city as well as the commitment to renew the public transport fleet towards green energies. “We have a bright future ahead of us,” said the mayor of the city. 

The Forum was also attended by, among others, the Chinese ambassador to Spain, Yao Jing, the president of CEOE Aragón, Miguel Marzo, and the general manager of Fundación Ibercaja, José Luis Rodrigo. In addition, prominent figures from the automotive industry at the national level attended, headed by the vice president of CEOE national María Helena Antolín, president of its Sustainable Mobility Council.