Europe’s two biggest carmakers have urged Brussels to tweak purchase subsidies and public procurement to favour domestic production over imported vehicles, calling for clear labelling and additional incentives for electric cars built in Europe.
In an opinion piece published in national newspapers on Wednesday night, the CEOs of Volkswagen and Stellantis – which together account for about 40% of the EU car market – urged the European Commission to build on incoming domestic production mandates with a full-blown ‘made-in-Europe’ strategy.
Their position appears to be at odds with that of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), of which both companies are members, after the lobby group warned that domestic production quotas could complicate European companies’ access to global markets.
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The strategy should be built on the principle of “fair competition” in the EU single market – a likely nod towards cheap imports from China – and be designed to channel EU taxpayers’ money towards promoting local production, wrote Oliver Blume and Antonio Filosa.
The Volkswagen and Stellantis directors, respectively, reasoned that the made-in-Europe label should be based not just on the location of production lines, but also on where electric powertrains, battery cells and other key components are manufactured.
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ACEA has urged caution over any made-in-Europe preference, likely due to internal divisions. The German premium carmaker BMW, for example, is understood to be against the introduction of local preference criteria.
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