It had been rumored for a long time and has ended up confirming. The European Commission will make the maximum pollutant emissions that manufacturers will be fostered if they do not want to be fined with sanctions that promised to be one thousand millionaires. The pact that has been reached is a small three -year moratorium that postpon the problem to 2027.
These are the key points.
What we had. What was on the table was a road map designed to jump into the electric car gradually. By 2035 it is planned prohibit cars that are not “carbon neutrals.” That is, it is expected that combustion engines can be still used with hydrogen either synthetic fuels that during their production they absorb CO2 and, therefore, equal their small pollutant emissions expelled with the use
But the truth is that these They should be more than mere exceptions. In 2030, an emission limit is so high that it should not allow the sale of cars that, at least, are not plug -in hybrid. And in 2025 very high fines were expected for those who exceeded 93.6 gr/km of CO2 on average in the car fleet sold.
The regulations said that for each gram of CO2 exceeded in the fleet of cars sold it would be punished with a fine of 95 euros per car sold. That is, if the fleet average is 98.6 gr/km of CO2, the fine would be multiplied by five. Each car sold would face a sanction of 475 euros. A manufacturer that sells a million cars in the EU would face a penalty of 475 million euros.
What changes. Little and a lot. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has presented The conclusions of the second meeting of the table known as Strategic Dialogue for the future of the European Automobile Industry. In his second point he points out that there is “a clear demand to make the CO2 emission standards more flexible.”
This flexibility is a kind of moratorium for manufacturers. Yes, they will have to comply with that emission limit of 93.6 gr/km of CO2 but will do so in 2027. Then they will present their results that will result from an average of sales of 2025, 2026 and 2027. Millionaire fines There are, therefore, in suspense.
Trying to content everyone. According to Von der Leyen, the current emission limits are maintained in 2027 so as not to punish those who have done the job before anyone else but believes that the industry needs “more margin of maneuver and greater clarity, without changing the agreed objectives.”
The changes, of course, need to be approved. The president of the European Commission It is optimistic In this sense, pointing out that an amendment as specific as this should be approved in very short space of time. On March 5 we will know more details with the presentation of an action plan that also contemplates the production of battery for electric cars within the European Union, among other measures.
The big beneficiaries. Among the big beneficiaries are, of course, those who were not going to comply with emission regulations and aimed to overcome it widely. The biggest beneficiary is, with much difference, the Volkswagen Group, according to calculations collected by The automotive tribune. The German conglomerate pointed to a penalty of 6,914 million euros with the sales and emission data of 2024.
Mercedes, who had received a fine of more than 1,000 million euros with the figures last year, is the other great beneficiary although there was already talk that he could have reached an agreement with Volvo or Polestar, among others, to form a pool of emissions before the European Union that will free them from the sanction.
Now both manufacturers have time to launch mass electric cars (Volkswagen awaits you to 2026/2027) or, like Mercedes, which sell large volumes within the figures they usually handle. He Mercedes Cla It is the great hope for this year and the coming.
Losers? If we take a look at the figures of 2024, Stellantis and the Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi alliance could also breathe calm since the fines could exceed 2,000 million euros if the data last year is taken as a reference.
However, both groups have made important efforts to reach 2025 with electric cars that aspire to sell good quantities and, thus, reduce the middle emissions of the fleet. Stellantis has made an investment of 30,000 million euros on Stla platforms of greater and smaller size and software development, with the aim of accommodating electrical and hybrid mechanics in the same space. He Peugeot E-3008for example, it is a good attempt to sell large volumes of electric.
Renault, meanwhile, has also made a giant leap in the electric car market in the last two years (winner of two Car of the Year consecutive along the way). His Renault Scenic and his new Renault 5 They are cars to move large sales figures which should significantly reduce the average emission.
Those who surely lose. Those who have lost with the play are, of course, the manufacturers of electric cars exclusively. And, more specifically, those who aspired to get a good sum negotiating with their emission bonds to get the companies out of the possible sanctions. It could be a good impulse for Volvo, which has a very high part of its widely electrified range and, above all, to contain that It does not go through its best moment economic.
But the one who loses the most is Tesla. The company had a complicated 2024 and is about to see if it reverses the situation in 2025. The sale of your emission bonds They were highly coveted because their sales volume in Europe is relatively high, it had to grow with the arrival of the Tesla Model and updated And it has no combustion engines that criminalize it in the least.
Photo | Volkswagen
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