From next year, car manufacturers operating in Europe must meet very stringent emission targets, which were agreed in 2019 and constitute one of the elements of the EU’s strategy to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.
In 2025, the EU limit on average emissions from new vehicle sales will drop to 93.6 grams of CO2 per kilometer (g/km), reminds CNBC. This represents a 15 per cent reduction on the 2021 baseline of 110.1g/km. Exceeding these limits may result in high penalties.
The industry faces a fine of EUR 15 billion
Rico Luman, senior economist for the transport and logistics sector at Dutch bank ING, told CNBC that European carmakers have every reason to worry about the enormous scale of financial penalties imposed by the EU.
Last month, Renault CEO Luca de Meo, in an interview with French radio, estimated that at the current level of electric vehicle sales, the European car industry could have to pay EUR 15 billion in financial penalties or abandon the production of more than 2.5 million vehiclesReuters reported.
Auto industry lobbying group that represents companies such as BMW, Ferrari, Renault, Volkswagen and Volvowarned that current EU rules “do not take into account the profound change in the geopolitical and economic climate” in recent years.
“European car manufacturers, united in ACEA, therefore call on the EU institutions to propose urgent aid measures before the new CO2 emissions targets for passenger cars and vans come into force in 2025,” ACEA said in a statement published on September 19, quoted by CNBC .
Fight for the market
European manufacturers face a storm of challenges on the road to full electrification, including a lack of affordable models, slower-than-expected rollout of charging points and the potential the impact of European tariffs on electric vehicles produced in China.
The European Vehicle Manufacturers Association says that The EU’s share in the electric battery market fell to 12.6% this year.compared to 13.9 percent in 2023, while car sales in the bloc remain around 18%. lower than before the pandemic in 2019
