The bosses of Europe behind Volkswagen second and third largest car manufacturers, Stellantis and Renault, have urged the decline of the European auto industry. In a joint conversation with the conservative French daily newspaper “Le Figaro”, they complained about the ever increasing regulatory requirements. These made cars more and more expensive and unaffordable for more and more people. Brussels urgently had to act and have recent announcements for deregulation. Last year, only 15 million vehicles were sold in Europe, including Great Britain and Switzerland, while it was still 18 million in 2019.Europa’s car market is “the only one of the big world markets that has not yet reached its preliminary crisis level,” said John Elkann. The Italian is in the personal union of the management and the Board of Directors of Stellantis, parent company of Peugeot, Fiat, Opel and eleven other brands. “In the current development, the market could be more than halving within a decade,” added the Chief CEO of the Renault Group, which also includes the cheap brand Dacia in Elkanns. In this context, he complained in particular the regulatory requirements for small cars, which are not least the discharge of the business strategy and the political influence of the German competitors. Premium brands determine EU regulation-but especially abroad, “there are two stems from European manufacturers,” said de Meo, also Italians. The one of Stellantis and Renault. Together they make up 30 percent of the market and wanted to produce and sell popular cars in and for Europe. The other secondary school represented premium brands, for which Europe is important, but the priority of which is export – and whose logic has been determining regulation for 20 years. “The European regulations mean that our cars are becoming increasingly complex, increasingly heavier and more and more expensive and that most people can simply no longer afford them,” complained the Renault boss. With open criticism of the German competitors, the car bosses are holding back. Nevertheless, both emphasize that the problem and interests in France, Italy and Spain are different. “These three countries are most affected,” said Elkann, referring to the increased car prices. They would have to make the promotion of their industry a priority and also have more weight than Germany in terms of production. With around 16 percent, the Italian Agnelli family, who belongs to Elkann, is the largest single shareholder of Stellantis. This is followed by the French Peugeot family with almost eight percent and the French sponsoring bank BPIFRANCE with 6.7 percent. The largest single shareholder of Renault is the French state with around 15 percent. More on the topic “What we are demanding is a differentiated regulation for small cars,” said de Meo. There are “too many regulations for larger and more expensive cars that do not enable us to produce small cars under acceptable profitability conditions.” You couldn’t treat a 3.80 meter long car like a 5.50 meter long car. The additional costs for a small car are just as high as with a large sedan, which is a large part of the small car’s profit margin. In between 2015 and 2030, the costs for a Renault Clio rose by 40 percent, and this increase is 92.5 percent due to the regulations. “Do you really need a lane departure assistant in cars that drive 95 percent of your time in the city?” Asked de Meo. “A quarter of our engineers are only concerned with regulations,” added Stellantis boss Elkann.
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