08 Oct European Carmakers Face Perfect Storm
European carmakers are facing what could turn out to be a major crisis cooked up by EU regulators, and it’s all about EVs and emissions. The former are supposed to help solve the problem with the latter, but the likelihood of success is uncertain because there are literally millions of variables: car buyers.
The EU has been enforcing emission caps on cars since 2012. Until this year, this cap has been an average of 130 grams of CO2 per kilometer for all new passenger cars. Beginning next year, however, this would be reduced further to 95 grams of CO per km. In fuel consumption, the 130 g/km cap corresponds to an average 5.6 liters of gasoline per 100 km while the 95 g/km cap corresponds to 4.1 liters per 100 km.
Europe’s big carmakers are lining up the EVs. Volkswagen alone is planning four new EV models for 2020, after earlier this month it unveiled its first mass production affordable EV, the ID3. More models should be coming from the top carmaker in the next few years and its rivals will not be sitting idly by. Everyone who makes cars in Europe has an electric lineup… but there are no guarantees that people will want to buy those cars.
Read more at zerohedge.com