Luca de Meo plays the birds of ill omen. The Italian is not the most optimistic businessman when it comes to the future of the automotive sector in Europe, but how can we not understand him? 2024 has just ended in suffering for manufacturers, undermined by sluggish sales. When some are close to agony, others try to keep their heads above water by cutting jobs (Nissan, Michelin, Volkswagen, etc.) or slowing down their production (Stellantis).
Manufacturers must, in parallel with their survival, manage the transition to electric, which is far from being a long, smooth river. Sales plateaued in 2024 compared to 2023, while an evolution should have been measured to comply with CAFE standards in 2025. This European regulation forces manufacturers to sell at least 20% of EVs in 2025 under penalty of heavy sanctions. Luca de Meo, a fervent opponent of this measure which he fought during his mandate as president of the European Manufacturers' Association (ACEA), believes that Europe is not helping the sector enough to develop electricity. In an interview given to De Tijd/L'Écho and cited by Gocar.be, de Meo accuses the EU of having “undertaken nothing to guarantee its industry sufficient access to raw materials and resources, especially within the framework manufacturing batteries for electric cars.”
An inevitable price increase?
The boss of Renault estimates that battery production costs will soar in the future, to the point of delivering a worrying forecast: the price of electric vehicles will increase by 40% by 2030. If Luca de Meo were to be right , there would be enormous damage to manufacturers already on the razor's edge.
As they are forced to sell more and more electric vehicles to meet European standards, car manufacturers could be hit hard by such an increase in production costs. Especially since their sales are not good enough, in particular because of the price of EVs, still too high for the average European's budget.
In addition, purchasing aid is dwindling, particularly in France, where the conversion bonus has been eliminated and the ecological bonus has been significantly reduced. If Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, campaigns for the establishment of European aid for purchasing, he himself removed the bonus in Germany… Suffice to say that we should not be surprised by the boom in hybrid, which has overtaken gasoline, while electric stagnates. Luca de Meo also accuses the public authorities of lagging behind in the development of charging infrastructure which, according to him, should be six or seven times higher. We will have to accelerate the movement if the European Union continues to desperately cling to its objective of a Europe without the sale of thermal vehicles in 2035. Otherwise, it is the manufacturers and the entire industry who will pay the price.
-Read also:
Featured Podcasts
MEN LIFE
In brief
The boss of the Renault group is not very optimistic about the future of electrics in Europe, which he imagines will be faced with a sharp increase in prices for vehicles whose prices are already high.
