By Divya Rajagopal and Gilles Guillaume
TORONTO/PARIS (Reuters) – Automotive Cells Co (ACC) is in early talks with officials in Canada and the United States on setting up a battery manufacturing plant in North America, an ACC spokesperson told Reuters on Tuesday.
ACC is a joint venture between Stellantis, Total Energies and Mercedes-Benz Group.
Its representatives met with officials from the Quebec government in Canada, from the mayor’s office in the city of Mirabel in Quebec, and with representatives of the federal government in the province in May this year, according to the provincial and federal government lobby registry.
The lobbying efforts were to enquire about direct funding, incentives and grants related to site selection, development and construction of a new battery processing facility in the province of Quebec, according to public documents.
“ACC is conducting simple exploratory studies, without commitment. We are focused on executing our already very ambitious European industrial and technological roadmap,” a company spokesperson told Reuters in a statement.
Canadian government officials were not available for an immediate comment. Officials from Invest Quebec said its policy is “not to discuss publicly any discussions it has, or may have, with project promoters.”
While ACC said it was exploring plans in North America it did not give details on the talks it has held in the United States.
(Reporting by Divya Rajagopal in Toronto and Gilles Guillaume in Paris; Additional reporting by Giulio Piovaccari in Rome and Allison Lampert in Montreal; Editing by Denny Thomas and Hugh Lawson)
