On July 21, 2021, the global CEO of Mercedes-Benz, Ola Källenius, announced that the prestigious German premium car brand would manufacture only electric cars from 2030. This decision implied going five years ahead of the policy imposed by the European Commissionwhich already established that as of 2035, it would be prohibited to manufacture cars with internal combustion engines in the countries of the continental economic community.
Three years later, through a new public statement, the same executive announced a change of plans, delaying the original program by at least five years, estimating that By the end of the decade they estimate that 50% of their vehicles will be hybrid and electricand informing that the project has been started to create a new heat engine of high efficiency that will be manufactured beyond 2030. However, above these new objectives, what has stood out is the confession that “maybe we were too optimistic.”
The sudden slowdown in electric car sales has taken the entire auto industry by surprise, including Toyotathe only brand in the world that raised concerns about the speed at which this technological change in people’s mobility was intended, and that, consistent with that idea, prioritized hybrid propulsion instead of electric. In fact, the brand that sells the most cars each year in the world has only one 100% electric model: the SUV bZ4X.
For the CEO of Mercedes, the problem is not as much economic as it is believed due to the high price of electric cars. His gaze is oriented to a political issue.
“We have formulated our demands in a letter to the European Union Commission. We do not question decarbonization at all, but “The path must be compatible with industrial and economic policy.”Källenius told the German media South German newspaper.
“In Germany, the Netherlands, the Scandinavian countries or Franceyes you can see movement. But if we look at the rest of the European Union, charging infrastructure is not yet where it should be. “In a dynamically changing world, we cannot ignore the changes and say: now we will just continue straight,” he said.
Another executive from the European automotive industry such as Christian Weingärtner, Director General of Ford Germanyraised concerns about having invested some 2 billion euros in modernizing the plant in Cologne, Germany, to produce the new Ford Puma Gen-Ewhich is the first electric Ford of segment B with a price close to 30.000 euros.
“We did so with confidence that the political path towards electric mobility would be implemented consistently. But that has not been the case. Unfortunately, we must say that due to the uncertainty caused mainly by politics, Demand for electric cars has plummeted, especially in Germany,” he noted.
The executive says that The company covers all segments with a proposal for electric cars, just when the conditions seem the least appropriate for this technology.
“We now have the cars necessary to achieve our goals,” said Weingärtner. “However, society is not yet ready to buy electric cars to this extent, either due to lack of charging infrastructure or due to lack of incentives.”
The general director of Ford in Europe expects political support for the investments that manufacturers have had to make to comply with the demands of the European Commission that he leads Ursula von der Leyenthe same board that participated in the summit with the presidents of the Mercosur carried out in Uruguay a couple of weeks ago, in which the free trade agreement between both common markets was generally approved.
“Electric mobility is a great technology that we will continue to develop massively over the coming decades. But what we have to talk about is What are the intermediate steps on the way there?said the executive, to affirm that “as a company, we are clear that we must move forward. As a manufacturer, not only “We need security in planning, but also security in investment.”
The situation is not easy for the executive branch of the European economic community to face. Recently they have had to implement a system called “IF24 Battery” through which they will try to obtain funds and financing that serve as support for projects related to battery manufacturing in Europe.
This program should be a rescue for the only European battery Gigafactory, Northvoltwhich has just announced its risk of going bankrupt due to the cancellation of contracts to supply batteries for the electric cars of most European automakers. The Northvolt protection program would comprise about 1,000 million eurosalthough it would only arrive in 2026, which seems incompatible with the company’s financial emergencies.
Källenius, meanwhile, was very clear in commenting on his point of view regarding the model that could be followed in search of a solution to the electromobility crisis. Copy the only market in the world where electric cars are increasingly selling.
“We want a successful path to zero emissions. Much can be learned from other economic regions that They work with incentives and subsidiessome of which are more advanced than us, like China, for example”.
