The CEO of Group Renault and president of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), Luca de Meo, maintains that “the transition to electric now has to be paid for by people who have money, the rich, because these cars are structurally “They cost more money.” This was stated during his participation by videoconference in the annual forum of Anfac (Spanish Association of Automobile and Truck Manufacturers), held on February 20.
Specifically, this was his response when asked about how a fair transition route towards the electrification of heavy and industrial vehicles can be achieved. “One day the prices will go down, but 40% of the cost of electric cars is in the batteries and a good part of the batteries are raw materials that are not found everywhere. So there is a risk of speculation about everything that,” he remarked.
The manager has also emphasized that it is necessary for the European Union to have a competitive strategy with the aim of facing those that China and the United States are implementing to grow their automobile industry while investing in electrification.
“At stake is our ability to innovate, to invent business models adapted to the new market,” said the CEO of the Renault group, who pointed out that “for decades, the internal combustion engine acted as a trap barrier for Europeans. “And now it is the Europeans who are relatively vulnerable, especially to the Chinese, when it comes to controlling the lower part of the value chain, the extraction and removal of raw materials.”
He has also criticized the consequences that some of the European regulations have had both on vehicle production in Europe and on the average age of the vehicle fleet on the continent, which is now around 12 years (in Spain it is higher). This accumulation of regulations has meant that “the average European car is 60% heavier than 20 years ago, 50% more expensive, and the number of car manufacturing companies has fallen by 40% in some countries.” And when vehicles become more expensive, “people make theirs last longer and we leave the most polluting cars on the road for longer.”
Likewise, De Meo also pointed out that the low sales of electrified vehicles in countries like Spain and Italy are “very worrying” and that the stability of the European market is not good news because it should be growing at a much higher rate. For this reason, he asked that the EU, the States and the sector work together to boost demand, because “while the United States and China do not mess around” in promoting their automotive industries, “Europe dances the cha-cha”, without a “holistic” approach and without “an authentic industrial policy”.
In this sense, we must be aware of the weight that the automobile industry has in the European Union, where it represents 8% of the GDP and employs 13 million people, that is, 7% of the workers.
For his part, in this same forum, the president of Anfac and CEO of Seat and Cupra, Wayne Griffiths, has requested that the Spanish Government activate measures that promote the expansion of the electric car in Spain, both in sales and in the development of charging infrastructure. Thus, he has given as an example those of Portugal – it allows VAT to be deducted – or Germany’s direct aid to manufacturers.
“The most important thing is to be competitive on a global level; beyond the perception of whether it is something for the rich or the poor, certainty is needed from the Administration to the consumer that electricity is the technology of the future,” said the president. from Anfac.
In this sense, he stressed that “it cannot be” that zero-emission electric cars are manufactured using coal energy. “Cars must be manufactured here and not in other cheaper countries that use dirty energy and bring them in polluting ships,” he claimed.
