(Yicai Global) Aug. 3 -- Guangzhou Automobile Group is blaming Stellantis as the pair’s joint venture has failed to resume normal operations after an unsuccessful ownership shift to the European owner of brands Peugeot and Maserati.

Stellantis has not fulfilled its commitment to keep GAC-Stellantis running till December, a GAC spokesperson told Yicai Global today. The JV has been unable to resume production since February.

Carlos Tavares, CEO of Amsterdam-based Stellantis, said in July that GAC has been unwilling to comply with the binding memorandum of understanding signed between the two parties and that has ultimately led to a trust crisis.

"We are deeply shocked by Mr. Tavares' so-called breach of trust," the Chinese spokesperson added. "The reason for not submitting the documents is that the two parties have not yet reached an agreement on the future of operations, not that GAC refused to do so."

"We hope that both parties will handle the termination of the JV pragmatically, properly, and under the law, and be responsible to consumers and stakeholders," the GAC representative added. 

On July 18, Stellantis and GAC announced that they would terminate the JV after a failed change of ownership. Consequently, Stellantis said it will no longer produce Jeeps locally in China but instead will focus on distributing imported models of the off-road vehicle brand. In January, the European company said it planned to increase its stake in the JV to 75 percent from 50 percent as a way to revive GAC-Stellantis which has underperformed in recent years.

Set up in 2010, after stellar initial sales GAC-Stellantis became mired in debt. In 2020, it sold 40,000 vehicles, down from as many as 205,000 in 2017.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi