Ursula von der Leyen’s speech on Thursday at European Parliament will be crucial to ensure the majority she needs to be reelected as Commission president, but to convince all pro-EU coalition lawmakers, she will have to address some key EU policy issues.
Europe’s car industry is divided on the issue.
One half wanting a ban on combustion engines to have a clear timeline for their transition, while the other doesn’t care as they already have their own earlier plan to exit CE production is not a division.
How is it that only fuel producers are interested in continuing to burn the planet, yet the fairy tale of car producers not being sure when (or if ever) to stop producing CEs is told everywhere?
There are quite a few companies, which produce car parts, which are only needed for combustion engines. The actual car makers only have to transition to a new drive train. If you built engines, you need to come up with a new business model.
Even actual car makers are divided. BMW has spent a ton of money on platforms that accommodate different drive trains, they don’t want that investment to be for nothing.
The more pricey and performancy car makers are, the more they profit off being able to offer non-standard options.