Stellantis CEO opposes delay in EU CO2 emissions rules

With the electric car market not in the best shape, a European lobby has called for a two-year postponement of the CO2 targets set for 2025. Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis, strongly opposed this on Sunday.

“It would be surreal to change the rules now” European regulations on CO2 emissions as requested by some manufacturers, castigated Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares. The unambiguous statement was made by the boss of the second largest European car manufacturer during the Chantilly automobile elegance competition in Oise. On Sunday, September 15, Carlos Tavares took advantage of this event, which brings together lovers of beautiful cars every two years in Val d’Oise, to throw a spanner in the works and mark his difference from his major European competitors.

The dispute is over the measures imposed by Europe regarding the implementation of anti-pollution standards. From 2025, Brussels is threatening car manufacturers with heavy fines if they do not sell more electric models. The groups concerned, united within the ACEA, the Association of European Automobile Manufacturers (including Renault, Toyota and Volkswagen), are lobbying to postpone this deadline. The boss of Stellantis, who has decided to go it alone since the end of 2022, can afford to kick over the traces: “Everyone has known the rules for a long time. Everyone has had time to prepare, so now we are racing.”

In reality, it is a mixture of realism and resignation in the face of increasingly fierce competition. Carlos Tavares has been saying for years that electric cars will not sell if they remain too expensive, which is true when you look at the market figures. Purchases of electric cars are struggling to take off, but today, there is no turning back. “Now we have the cars, we have built and we have organized ourselves to make the necessary sales”he said, implying that if you wanted to brake, you had to think about it first.

The boss of the former PSA-Peugeot-Citroën, now a Franco-Italian-American group (after a merger with Fiat and Chrysler), is playing the frank card and is making the European Commission face up to its responsibilities. WhileHe had long opposed the implementation of overly restrictive rules regarding anti-pollution standards, and he believes he has played the game. “Dogmatism has broken against the wall of reality”he sums up when speaking of European decisions. VYou wanted electric cars at all costs, today you have them… even at the cost of social disruption that is starting to appear in the sector.