European carmakers celebrate EV gains but push back on engine Ban

Europe’s auto bosses came to Munich with one message on the surface and another behind closed ￰0￱ stage, they showed off their shiny new electric ￰1￱ stage, they were blunt: the 2035 engine ban isn’t going to ￰2￱ top players (Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, and Stellantis) are using this week’s auto show to push back hard against Europe’s combustion-engine phaseout. They’re not hiding their frustration ￰3￱ CEO Oliver Blume said, “It is unrealistic to expect to have 100% electric vehicles by 2035.” This came right after he showed off a whole fleet of EVs to reporters. “I am strongly advocating for reality checks,” he ￰4￱ Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius told Bloomberg, “Now is the time to do an inventory of what in the policymaking has worked, and what needs to be ￰5￱ are very convinced that doing nothing is not an option.” Auto giants fight Brussels on 2035 deadline The heat is building ahead of a summit in Brussels this ￰6￱ Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is scheduled to meet with industry leaders to hear their ￰7￱ she’ll hear a ￰8￱ executive Jean-Philippe Imparato said flat out: “The 2035 deadline is not achievable.” These aren’t soft ￰9￱ are dealing with a stagnant Europe car market , shaky EV demand, and Chinese competition that’s moving in ￰10￱ is leading that charge, offering affordable models that European companies can’t match ￰11￱ the same time, politicians like German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, whose party has opposed the phaseout, are scheduled to speak in Munich and echo the industry’s ￰12￱ automakers want the EU to allow more ￰13￱ includes extending the life of range extenders; small gas engines that charge a car’s ￰14￱ also want more time for hybrids, continued subsidies for EVs, and looser safety rules for smaller ￰15￱ to them, this isn’t about avoiding climate goals.

It’s about giving Europe time to adjust without collapsing the car industry or handing the market over to ￰16￱ faces pressure from all sides as climate debate intensifies But EU regulators and environmental groups are pushing ￰17￱ say watering down the 2035 target would kill Europe’s credibility on ￰18￱ would get mixed signals, and clean-tech growth would slow ￰19￱ wants to show the world it’s serious about ditching fossil fuels, and the car sector is a key battleground. There’s more at stake than just ￰20￱ move to EVs affects millions of workers across Germany, France, and ￰21￱ combustion engines die too fast, supply chains break. That’s the nightmare scenario for Europe’s industrial ￰22￱ for the EU, delaying the ban risks falling even further behind ￰23￱ European Commission is already reviewing its 2030 and 2035 climate targets for the auto sector.

It’ll propose any changes next ￰24￱ the meantime, Friday’s Brussels meeting is expected to be ￰25￱ and parts suppliers will line up to tell Von der Leyen what they need: more time, more flexibility, and fewer ￰26￱ broader climate discussion is also heating ￰27￱ Commission has proposed a 90% emissions cut by 2040, and not everyone’s on ￰28￱ wants that debate moved up to the leaders’ summit next ￰29￱ is demanding a biofuels carveout as a condition for agreeing to the ￰30￱ means more delays, more negotiation, and more uncertainty for the auto ￰31￱ while carmakers are pretending everything’s full speed ahead on EVs, the truth is they’re slamming the brakes on the phaseout behind the ￰32￱ they’re not being ￰33￱ is a full-blown lobbying ￰34￱ one side: Europe’s biggest auto ￰35￱ the other: Brussels regulators who don’t want to blink ￰36￱ Difference Wire : the secret tool crypto projects use to get guaranteed media coverage