Problems of European producers
Decreasing demand for cars, including electric, high energy costs and competition from subsidized producers from China – these are the problems that European automotive manufacturers are struggling with today and are increasingly raising alarms about the need to take action. Signals about the growing crisis in the automotive industry are coming from everywhere, including from the governments of member states – Italy and the Czech Republic are calling, among others, until the ban on the sale of new vehicles with combustion engines is revoked from 2035. In this difficult situation, the European Commission decided to start a strategic dialogue with the industry – informed the Association of Distributors and Manufacturers of Automotive Parts (SDCM).
Changing the EU’s climate policy
The aim of the work is to create a comprehensive strategy that will not only help the industry recover from the crisis, but also help achieve EU climate goals. Representatives of member states, industry leaders and MEPs are expected to take part in the talks.
“Of course, none of the manufacturers is calling for a 180-degree turn in European climate policy, and electromobility will still be one of the main tools to achieve climate neutrality in the automotive industry, but changes are necessary. We need to sit down at the table and finally start a dialogue about the future of the European automotive industry, especially since it has been missing so far. This is the last call – and this is an optimistic assumption – to start talks if this transformation is to be successful for us,” said SDCM president Tomasz Bęben.’
The goals were lofty, but reality was forgotten
In his opinion, the goals and demands that guided the “officially decreed” switch of the European automotive industry to electromobility were lofty, but they did not take into account reality, for example the fact that Europe was left behind China in the technological race in the electric vehicle segment. , which have spent enormous amounts of money from the state budget on this over the years. “Now we can see the consequences of this disregard for reality. In Germany, Volkswagen and ZF plants are closing today,” the expert noted.
Dręben pointed out that the times of stable growth in the European automotive industry, interspersed only with occasional minor turmoil, are a thing of the past. “European automotive industry it cannot recover from the blows that are falling on it – first the pandemic and the chip crisis, then problems with supply chains interrupted by the war in Ukraine. Now it is struggling with too low demand, strong competition from China, and difficult economic and geopolitical realities. All this results in a reduction in employment. And January is just around the corner and the specter of the new administration tightening customs duties on European cars exported to the United States market,” he said.
Low demand for electric cars
In the opinion of the president of SDCM weak demand for electric cars in Europe results from, among others, from too slow development of charging infrastructure. “It should be noted that car and component manufacturers have learned their lesson – European brands currently offer many attractive electric models, but they do not find many buyers, among others due to the insufficiently developed network of fast chargers,” Bęben emphasized.
The president of SDCM emphasized that The European automotive industry would be in a much better situation today if the future of the automotive industry had not been administratively defined at the beginning of designing the climate policy assumptions.considering electromobility as the only right direction of change.
“European decision-makers should then say: industry, do what you think is appropriate to achieve net zero emissions. Then there would be room to use the many technological opportunities that Europe has, including the use of biofuels and synthetic fuels. The same summit can be reached It was possible to reach it in different ways, but the European industry was forced to take it the most difficult way and without any security,” Bęben emphasized.
Possible abandonment of the ban on the use of combustion engines from 2035
SDCM pointed out that there have been proposals in the European Parliament to change regulations regarding the automotive sector, and it particularly strongly supports them European People’s Party (EPP)which includes the Civic Platform and the Polish People’s Party. MEPs belonging to this group propose abandoning the ban on the use of combustion engines from 2035 and enabling the use of other technologies that can contribute to reducing emissions, including hybrid drives, as well as synthetic fuels and biofuels. They also point to the need to develop a network of chargers and alternative fuel stations.
In the EPP’s opinion, further actions are also necessary to protect the European market against dumping and subsidized competition, especially from China. MEPs also point out the need to increase investment in research and development, especially artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles and new fuels, are crucial. In their opinion, financial support is also necessary for the regions most affected by the transformation. It is also necessary to simplify excessively complicated and high-cost regulations, as well as to accelerate legislative processes, SDCM informed. (PAP)
