A paradox: it’s at the Detroit auto show, where a whole bunch of new 4x4s and other pickups are presented, that the builders say a little more about their situation in front of them. at the famous European “CO2 wall” . While Brussels has set relatively restrictive standards for 2021, the CEO Mercedes owner Daimler said it was not sure they could meet them by the deadline. “This is our intention, but we can not guarantee that we will be compliant by 2021,” he said. “It’s a huge challenge for everyone.”
Nicolas Peter, the CFO of BMW, said the group was “in a very good position” against these standards, while Sergio Marchionne, the CEO of Fiat Chrysler, said he was determined to do everything to respect them. The opposite “is not an option,” he said.
Salted Fines
The question concerns most manufacturers present in Europe, starting with PSA: the French manufacturer has even entered into negotiations with General Motors to reduce Opel’s acquisition price , insufficiently prepared at maturity. It must be said that the fines provided by Brussels may be salty. Under a 2014 regulation, manufacturers will be required not to issue on average more than 95 grams per kilometer (compared to 130 grams today), otherwise they will have to pay a fine of 95 euros per car and per excess gram.
What to make climb the bill dangerously: billions of euros a year are at stake . “We watched that, it’s not pretty,” said Sergio Marchionne in Detroit. The decline of diesel in Europe is adding to the headache for manufacturers: the delay on gasoline engines, more polluting in CO2 than diesel, increases the terms of the equation. “Finally, it is the customer who will decide how the market will develop,” Zetsche said.
Massive investments
To force fate, the builders have nonetheless announced massive investments in the electrification of their range. A turn that will get closer to the goal, especially since electric vehicles count double in the calculation of the average emissions of the fleet. Some took advantage of the Detroit High Mass to unveil their strategy: Ford has promised to double its effort to 11 billion dollars (8.9 billion euros) by 2020 , to launch 40 new electric or electrified vehicles. And Sergio Marchionne announced an electric Ferrari, coming to walk on the flower beds of Tesla.
Before them, General Motors had said it expected to release 20 new electric models by 2023 – without revealing the amount that would be spent. In Frankfurt last September, Volkswagen announced 40 billion investments by 2030, to develop electric versions of its 300 models in the world. Finally Daimler will spend $ 12 billion on the subject.
In total, the auto industry has announced $ 90 billion of investment in the electric car, according to a Reuters calculation. Hoping that the surge of announced models finds its audience: the electric vehicle today represents only a few hundred thousand units per year, less than 1% of the global market.