Carlos Tavares: “We need to bring back common sense”

WRC with Citroën, Formula E with DS and the alliance with Virgin Racing, World RX with Peugeot , and until the beginning of the year Rally-raid with the Lion, dedicated once again with Carlos Sainz, PSA’s commitment to motorsport remains extremely eclectic.

Chairman of the board of the French group and himself a great fan of motorsport, Carlos Tavares did not miss the opportunity to travel to the Monte-Carlo Rally last week, to support Citroën Racing and the Kris Meeke tandem – Craig Breen, aligned with the C3 WRC.

The manager also took the opportunity to return with us to the topics surrounding PSA's sports programs. If we were particularly expecting a possible return of Peugeot in Endurance, it is the World RX and the future E-WRX which have retained the favors of the Lion.

“We are in an era that can be described as Darwinian: you adapt or you disappear, explains Carlos Tavares. This is why I am passionate about the subjects we discuss here: motorsport has always revolved around the automobile industry.

But if it advances and the competition continues to make its rounds ignoring all this, guess what will happen to it... Reason why we went towards the WRX and the future E-WRX rather than the WEC, or that we immediately got involved in Formula E. Otherwise, we will be criticized for having been dinosaurs incapable of adapting. »

Pragmatism is also at the heart of Carlos Tavares' choices for the directions of PSA's sporting commitments.  “The period when we could allow ourselves, on a whim, out of emotion or ego, to get involved in a championship and commit millions and millions of euros is over.

We must take into account the dimension of what competition in the automobile industry represents today, which is not below the level of that encountered in motorsport.

It's so hard you can't imagine. Therefore, there is every reason in the world for what is hard in the industry sense to rub off on motorsport for a question of return on money spent.

And if we are sincere enthusiasts of this sport, we should all fight the inflationary approaches which are likely to kill our sport by leading us into dead ends […] If we want to protect it, we have to bring common sense. »

Discover the full interview with Carlos Tavares, and the full report and analysis of the Monte-Carlo Rally, in issue 2150 of AUTOhebdo, available now in digital version and on newsstands.