The CEO of Seat and Cupa, Wayne Griffiths, has launched today in his capacity as president of the Anfac business association an urgent message given the slowness of Spain both in the incorporation of electric cars to the market and in the development of charging points .
“We run the risk that investments will go to more proactive countries. If the sector does not see Spain as a car-friendly country, it will go to other countries that do bet on the automotive industry,” Griffiths said at the New Economy Forum .
The manager’s message is that “another year cannot be lost” in the integration of the electric car because Spain is far behind and the country runs the risk of failing to meet the EU objectives for 2035. In Spain, electric sales are barely equivalent to 3% and do not rise, while Portugal and the EU average already exceed 20%.
“We have a good dialogue with the Ministry of Industry, but it is time to make decisions and not just talk,” he said. “The meetings we have with them are of the highest priority so that solutions can be carried out. The citizen wants to see a sign from the Government that he is committed to private, sustainable and electric cars.”
The CEO of Seat has criticized the bureaucratic barriers in the installation of charging points, the two years that buyers of electric cars must wait to receive aid and the lack of adaptation of the Automotive Part to the needs of the industry, for which the flexibility of the European Commission is needed.
“In the installation of charging points we have made almost no progress and we are still at the European tail,” he stated. “You have to make decisions. We are losing time. The measures that are needed are easy to implement, they are not inventions, but a copy of what other countries do.”
Regarding the Spanish charging network, he regretted that there are only 20,000 points installed when, according to the objectives, the year should end with 45,000. 80% of those that are in operation are not fast charging. “It takes between 26 and 46 months to set up a charging point in Spain, when it should only take a few weeks,” he lamented.
At the European level, he warned of the risks of the implementation of the Euro7 regulations on emissions, which “may force the closure of plants in Spain”, since it will make vehicles manufactured in the country more expensive. “Most of the cars that are made in Spain are small and fuel-efficient, and they have difficulties to comply with Euro7.” This standard is in the proposal phase and should enter into force in mid-2025.
Griffiths has also highlighted the improvement in semiconductor supply and bottleneck relief. “I don’t see any significant risks right now.”
It has warned of the high abstention from work after the pandemic and has minimized eventual job losses in the factories associated with the transition to the electric car by indicating that Spain can start producing components that until now have been imported, such as car engines. .
Regarding mobility plans in cities, he stated that “private vehicles cannot be attacked when Spain is a car-manufacturing country.” He has also demanded, in memory of the recently deceased ex-minister Josep Piqué, “political, economic and social consensus”.
