Germany is bringing its industrial weight into play against the European Union’s plans to ban sales of new internal- combustion-engine vehicles after 2035, according to several media outlet reports.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz has promised to do everything in his power to have the plan amended to allow carbon-neutral fuels in ICE powered vehicles beyond the zero-tailpipe emissions mandate.
His voice joins those of the Association for Emissions Control and Climate (AECC) and German auto supplier giant Mahle’s CEO Arnd Franz, calling for the EU to change course.
Europe’s trade regulator, the European Commission, is currently in discussions with automakers, suppliers and other stakeholders to reconsider its planned zero-tailpipe emission mandate for new vehicle sales.
Merz said Europe’s domestic automakers need more time to move toward lowering CO2 emissions through the use of alternative technologies to battery-electric vehicles, Reuters reported.
“If I have my way, and I will do everything I can to achieve this, there will be no such hard cut in 2035,” Merz said at a press conference after meeting company executives of Europe’s top auto brands.
However, Merz said he accepted that the path to electrified mobility would continue and could become the central technology of the next few years, after announcing an additional €3 billion ($3.5 billion) in subsidies to support EV purchases by middle- and lower-income households, the news outlet reported.
Naturally, the EU’s ban would also hit the sales of hybrids, plug-in hybrids and range extended EVs, all of which are seeing growing demand from European consumers.
Europe’s legacy auto industry is facing increasing competition from cheaper EV products imported into the market from China by a growing number of brands, including GAC which plans a rapid expansion through the economic bloc.
