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Stellantis (NYSE:STLA) CEO Carlos Tavares urged EU policymakers to reconsider plans to ban internal combustion vehicles by 2035.
In the summer of 2022, the European Parliament agreed upon a pathway to reach “zero-emission road mobility by 2035”, a goal that sets out to effectively eliminate production of new passenger and light commercial vehicles utilizing fossil-fuel powered engines.
“An ambitious revision of CO2-standards is a crucial part of reaching our climate targets,” Dutch MEP Jan Huitema said at the time. “With these standards, we are creating clarity for the car industry and can stimulate innovation and investments for car manufacturers.”
However, Carlos Tavares, CEO of major European automaker Stellantis NV (STLA), is not as optimistic. Namely, he indicated that rising costs of electric vehicles will shut many less wealthy consumers out of the auto market altogether.
“The dogmatic decision that was taken to ban the sale of thermal vehicles in 2035 has social consequences that are not manageable,” French outlet Le Figaro quoted him as saying on Monday. “This layer of dogma must now be supplemented by a layer of pragmatism…If you deny the middle classes access to freedom of movement, you are going to have serious social problems.”
Despite his skepticism of parliamentary mandates, the automaker that Tavares helms outlined its EV efforts in Paris. Shares of the multinational conglomerate rose 3.96% in afternoon trading on Monday, rising alongside a broader market rally.