EU plan to relax petrol car ban dismissed by Fiat maker – Financial Times
Brussels has failed to deliver a “clear roadmap for growth” in its revised climate policy that would have allowed Stellantis to boost its investment into Europe, its chief executive has warned.
“This package does not do the job,” Antonio Filosa, who took over the European group behind the Jeep, Fiat and Peugeot brands in June, said in an interview with the Financial Times. “There are none of the urgent measures needed to return the European automotive sector to growth.”
Filosa had told the FT in November that the group would multiply investment in Europe if Brussels relaxed its 2035 ban on petrol engines.
But seeing the latest EU proposals, he added: “Without growth, it becomes very difficult to think about investing more. Without additional investments, it is difficult to build the resilient supply chain that is vital for European jobs, European prosperity and European security.”
The scathing criticism came days after the European Commission said it would scrap a law forcing carmakers to cut their emissions to zero by 2035.
While manufacturers will be allowed to carry on releasing 10 per cent of their 2021 emissions and to continue selling some petrol engines and hybrids, the commission has alarmed some in the car industry by mandating emissions be offset by using low-carbon steel and sustainable fuels.
Filosa said there were not enough immediate relief measures to support the electric transition of vans and other commercial vehicles. The various caveats attached to the flexibilities on the 2035 petrol ban also meant that there was a lack of clarity on their feasibility, he added.
“This is a measure whose cost may not be within reach for the volume carmakers who serve most of our citizens,” he said.
Reaction to the EU’s move from the auto industry has been deeply divided, with France’s Renault welcoming the package as addressing major challenges carmakers faced. However Hildegard Müller, president of the German car lobby VDA, slammed the changes as “disastrous” with too many obstacles for implementation.
Commission officials have insisted that they have managed to maintain the ambition of the original 2035 ban by putting the new emission offsets in place.
“Last March we said that the auto industry was at risk of death . . . and now we are putting a package on the table to support our industry,” said EU industry commissioner Stéphane Séjourné. “Is Europe calling into question its climate objectives? The answer is no.”
An EU official added that the requirements for green steel and renewable fuels would help “create a lead market for these new technologies that we will need for the green transition”.
Guido Guidesi, chair of the EU’s Automotive Regions Alliance, a network of regional governments committed to decarbonising the car sector, said that the revision marked “a step forward towards rationality, the market and consumers”, adding that “much more” could be needed.
In the US, there has been a more dramatic reversal in climate ambitions, with President Donald Trump cancelling EV credits and rolling back regulations to curb vehicle emissions.
This has led to painful writedowns on EV investments by Ford and GM, but they have also sparked renewed investments in hybrids and other petrol vehicles, with Stellantis pledging to invest a record $13bn in the US over the next four years.
UBS analyst Patrick Hummel said it was clear that the EU still wanted the vast majority of new car sales to be fully electric by 2035. “[Carmakers] won’t take this regulation amendment as a reason to change investment strategies,” he added.
