Europe's Carmakers Demand Brussels Rip Up the EV Rulebook — Again

Europe's automotive industry has issued its most pointed challenge yet to Brussels over electric vehicle targets, warning that the regulatory framework underpinning the continent's green transition is failing to keep pace with commercial reality.

Meeting in Brussels on 5 March, the board of the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association — whose members include Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis and Renault — told legislators that the flexibility measures proposed in December's Automotive Package, while welcome in principle, fall well short of what the industry needs to remain viable through the end of the decade.

"Europe risks losing its edge, both as an attractive place to invest and as an industrial location, with significant consequences for jobs and innovation," said ACEA president Ola Källenius, who also serves as chief executive of Mercedes-Benz. The remarks carried weight: Källenius has long been among the more measured voices in the industry's debate with Brussels.

At issue is the pace of the EV transition. Battery-electric cars accounted for just 19.3 per cent of new EU registrations in January 2026 — an improvement on the year before, but far below the trajectory originally projected when the 2035 combustion engine phase-out was agreed. Overall new car registrations fell 3.9 per cent in January, marking a second consecutive difficult opening to a year.

The industry is pushing Brussels to extend compliance averaging from three to five years across the 2028 to 2032 period, and to broaden the definition of vehicles eligible for credits beyond small, EU-made battery cars. On vans, the situation is more acute: electric and plug-in hybrid models barely command an 11 per cent market share, prompting calls for 2030 and 2035 targets to be substantially revised.

For policymakers, the dilemma is acute. Weakening the framework risks signalling retreat on climate commitments; holding the line may accelerate plant closures and job losses across an industry that employs 13.6 million Europeans.