The automotive industry is pressing Brussels to review the ban on combustion vehicles in 2035.
“Meeting the strict CO2 targets for cars and vans in 2030 and 2035 is no longer feasible in today's world,” said the presidents of European car manufacturers and suppliers, grouped under ACEA and CLEPA respectively, who sent a letter this Wednesday to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, stating that “the EU risks losing its way in its automotive transition” if the deadlines for completing the electric transition are not extended and more aid is not approved to stimulate demand.
The European automotive industry has once again called on Europe to point out that the sector's transformation toward electrification is "unviable" and to adjust policies "to current market, geopolitical, and economic realities," but without putting the entire industry at risk.
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“Europe's transformation plan for the automotive industry must go beyond idealism and recognize current industrial and geopolitical realities. Meeting rigid CO2 targets for cars and vans in 2030 and 2035 is no longer feasible in today's world,” said the presidents of the European Automobile Manufacturers (ACEA) and Suppliers (CLEPA), Ola Källenius and Matthias Zink, respectively.
Källenius and Zink insisted that Europe "does not offer the necessary conditions to enable the transition" and called for "much more ambitious, coherent, and long-term" incentives on the demand side, including lower energy costs for charging, purchase subsidies, and tax reductions.
Likewise, the executives of Mercedes-Benz and Schaeffler, respectively, are calling for a review of the CO2 reduction schedule for road transport to safeguard industrial competitiveness, social cohesion, and strategic resilience.
“Successful decarbonization involves going beyond new vehicle targets; it requires addressing existing fleet emissions (for example, by accelerating fleet renewal), expanding tax and purchasing incentives (including those for company cars and vans), and introducing specific measures for trucks and buses to level out the total cost of ownership,” they analyze.
Representatives from ACEA and CLEPA also highlighted the near-total dependence on Asia in the battery value chain and US tariffs, which are burdening the sector with respect to a key market in the brands' balance sheets.
"We want this transition to work, but we're frustrated by the lack of a holistic and pragmatic political plan for transforming the automotive industry. We're being asked to transform with our hands tied behind our backs," they denounced.
In the letter to the President of the European Commission, they also focused on the low market share of electric models in passenger cars (15%), vans (9%), and trucks (3.5%) in Europe.
According to Källenius and Zink, Europe must focus on "much more ambitious, long-term, and consistent demand incentives," as well as speed up processes with "simpler and more agile" bureaucracy that doesn't make customers hesitate "to switch to alternative propulsion systems."
Finally, industry spokespersons turned their attention to the meeting scheduled for September 12, where the future of the European automotive sector will be discussed. "This is the EU's last opportunity to adjust its policies to current geopolitical, economic, and market realities, or risk jeopardizing one of its most successful and globally competitive industries," they concluded in their letter.
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