In a letter to EU leaders, the newly appointed European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association President, Ola Källenius, outlined automotive sector priorities to ensure future competitiveness and drive decarbonisation.
- In a letter to EU leaders, the President of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, Ola Källenius, highlighted three critical priorities:
- a realistic pathway to decarbonising the automotive industry, one that is market driven, and not penalty driven; find a solution to the disproportionate costs of compliance with the 2025 CO2 target for cars and vans;
- implement recommendations of the Draghi report: create a regulatory framework that enhances the competitiveness of the European industries;
- promote new approaches to create worldwide, mutually beneficial trade relations for the EU to continue benefiting from free and fair trade.
The most urgent action that the industry needs now is that the EU finds a solution for compliance burden relief for cars and vans on the 2025 CO2 target.
Political action today could not be more critical, as the latest provisional figures indicate an almost 6% decline in new electric car registrations in 2024. Market share is also on a downward descent, declining by 1% to 13.6%—far from the sharp increase needed to meet stringent CO2 targets in the coming years.