The CEO of car giant BMW has said that Europe must ditch its ban on petrol engines in order to be able to compete against China.
Speaking at the Paris motor show, Oliver Zipse, said that the mood across Europe was “trending towards one of pessimism” and that the region needs a new regulatory framework in order to remain competitive in the face of competition from markets with less regulation.
Zipse said that, “A correction of the 100% BEV target for 2035 as part of a comprehensive CO2-reduction package would also afford European OEMs less reliance on China for batteries,”.
He added that, “To maintain the successful course, a strictly technology-agnostic path within the policy framework is essential.”
In March of 2023, EU countries approved a law dictating that all new cars to have zero CO2 emissions from the target year of 2035.
In effect, the law will effectively ban diesel and petrol vehicles with the aim of 55% lower CO2 emissions from 2030, when compared to 2021 levels.
The car industry has been critical of the move with brands such asBMW, VW and Renault calling for the CO2 to be relaxed or delayed.
The Italian government has also expressed its frustration with the new rules with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni calling them “ideological madness” amid fears from the auto industry of heavy fines due to falling disappointing sales of electric vehicles.
Last month Italian Industry Minister Adolfo Urso Europe’s car industry had “collapsed” making predictions that “tens of thousands” of jobs in the sector will be lost if the EU does not change course.
“Against the data that has already emerged both with regard to car production on our continent which has plummeted, and with regard to the purchase of electric cars on our continent which has dropped significantly we now have the certainty that with this timetable, the targets set for 2035 will not be met.” he said,
The European Automobile Manufacturers Association says the industry will face the “daunting prospect of … multi-billion-euro fines” next year, and urged the EU to implement “urgent relief measures”.
However the European Commission appears to be holding strong with a spokesperson saying last month that there were “still 15 months of car sales ahead and the industry has time…to meet their targets,”.
“It is also worth recalling the target for 2025 was agreed in 2019 and…we have designed these policies in a way that the industry has time to adapt.” the spokesperson said.