Guy Who Makes His Living Selling Jeeps And Rams Says We Can’t Get Rid Of ICE Cars

The slowdown in EV sales has created some real headaches for automakers, but in Europe the difficulties are especially acute. And now Stellantis Chairman John Elkann is insisting that the industry needs more time to get its act together when it comes to the region’s carbon-reduction goals.

Here’s Reuters (via Automotive News):

“There is another way to cut emissions in Europe in a constructive and agreed way, restoring the growth we have lost and meeting people’s needs,” Elkann said during an event on Nov. 25 to mark the start of production of the new hybrid version of the Fiat 500 battery-electric car. The auto industry’s proposals include allowing plug-in hybrids, extended-range EVs and alternative fuels to be sold beyond 2035 when a planned zero emissions mandate will ban the sale of new gasoline and diesel cars across the EU.

Elkann also dispensed some ominous warnings about what could happen if the EU doesn’t go along with his recommendations, insisting that staying the course could lead to “irreversible decline.” Yikes!

As Reuters pointed out, current projections for 2024 vehicle registrations in Europe are running about three million below where they were in 2019. The overall market is sluggish, and yet it’s supposed to be in a process of transformation, moving away from combustion technologies and toward electrification. The arrival of cheap EVs from China is complicating the situation.

Stellantis itself is also in a state of corporate struggle. Former CEO Carlos Tavares departed last year, and his replacement, Antonio Filosa, is still finding his footing. This has placed Elkann in the awkward position of assuming a higher profile than perhaps he thinks is ideal. He has to fix the family car business, which was formed through mergers of Fiat and Chrysler, then a combination of the resulting FCA conglomerate with the PSA Group. In this role, he now has to also serve as a sort of industrial statesman, dealing with the EU and the governments of Italy and France, as well as contending with the U.S., where Stellantis relies on big pickups and SUVs to drive sales and profits.

EVs were supposed to help Europe move away from diesels, in the aftermath of Volkswagen’s dieselgate scandal. The EU has tariffed Chinese EV imports to protect the continent’s carmakers, but China has engaged a multifaceted strategy, exporting combustion vehicles to markets such as Italy and Spain, where the Middle Kingdom thinks it can take market share against weaker competition. In this context, Stellantis risks being unable to challenge the Chinese on ICE vehicles if the European automaking giant doesn’t continue to invest in combustion platforms because it has to drop them to meet EV mandates. Elkann is of course far from alone: every European carmaker is up against the same dilemma. The transition was always going to be precarious, and that’s why European regulators thought the 2035 deadline would give automakers enough time to prepare for a massive shift away from burning petrol.

But projections for EV sales turned out to be overly optimistic, and now the European auto industry is dealing with the fact that it was never structured for such an aggressive timeline. The implications are alarming, especially on the economic side. As Wired reported earlier this year, the industry “employs 13.8 million people across Europe and represents around 7 percent of the continent’s GDP.” Everything is now pushing up against a December review of emissions goals, so it’s hardly surprising the Elkann has taken the opportunity to use some strong language to beg for breathing room.