“The hybrid vehicle market is a megatrend that works in our favor.” YOUSSEF SOUIBA Executive Vice President, President of the C-Power Business Group As demand for electric vehicles slows, hybrids are making a major comeback. With its C-Power Business Group, how does OPmobility plan to turn this trend into a strategic advantage? BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES Is your hybrid offering mature? Y. S. In a market in which agility is vital, our main advantage is the fact that we are cell agnostic. We know how to adapt to all types of cells and we conduct thorough benchmarking to provide every customer with the most suitable technology. We can therefore assist them in optimizing their architecture from the earliest stages of vehicle development, thereby ensuring the best trade-off between range, size, and cost. We continue to innovate and develop our products with the long-term goal of providing an integrated solution for hybrid vehicles. Does the market’s transformation provide promising opportunities for the C-Power Business Group? Y. S. The development of hybrid vehicles and the slowdown in electric vehicles present us with a genuine opportunity: we will produce more fuel tanks than planned, while also continuing to develop our battery pack solutions. We believe that it is vital to provide our customers with real added value; we do this by sharing our expertise in hybrid powertrains, while saving them from having to invest internally. Our multi-technology approach – ICE, hybrid, and electric – enables us to support all mobility stakeholders. This flexibility is at the heart of our efforts to provide innovative and sustainable solutions that effectively meet all the needs of the mobility sector. In 2025, hybrid engines became the most popular in Europe. In China, hybrid growth is now stronger than that of electric vehicles, with a market share that rose from 15% to 30% between 2023 and 2024. In the United States, the end of the federal tax credit is significantly slowing down the electric vehicle market, with many OEMs opting for lightweight hybridization. WHEN HYBRID VEHICLES DISRUPT THE MARKET Often considered as a transitional solution between internal combustion engines and fully electric vehicles, do you see hybrid vehicles as a separate market? Youssef Souiba. Many OEMs wanted to switch directly from ICE to fully electric vehicles. Some, such as Toyota and BMW, preferred to opt for a multi-technology strategy. We are now witnessing the stagnation of the electric vehicle market, while tough regulations to decarbonize mobility are being implemented, particularly in Europe. Most OEMs are now focusing on a hybrid offering in an attempt to comply with this requirement to reduce CO2 emissions. In other words, hybrid vehicles are emerging as a fundamental market trend that is set to last. How are OPmobility and its C-Power Business Group approaching this? Y. S. With a 24% market share on fuel and emission control systems, we continue to be a global leader in energy storage. By acquiring ACTIA Power in 2022, we were able to expand our offering to include battery pack solutions and thus target the electric vehicle market. As such, we are the only player to provide both pressurized fuel tanks and batteries to support this market’s development. OPmobility — Vibes #3 • 13 12 •
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