Automotive News Europe — 2024-09-23
Automotive Industry
Kallenius said Mercedes "cannot ignore customer preferences" as EV sales in Europe stagnate.
Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kallenius has called for an easing of emissions rules and is backing Mario Draghi’s proposals to boost European competitiveness, according to an interview published in Germany’s Handelsblatt.
Kallenius told the paper that the automaker agrees with the position of the ACEA European lobby group, of which it’s a member, calling for “urgent action” ahead of emissions targets that could cost the industry billions of euros in fines.
“We cannot ignore customer preferences,” Kallenius told the German newspaper. With a stagnating share of fully electric cars in Europe, the CO2 targets for 2025 are “hardly achievable,” he said.
Kallenius said that he would “almost unreservedly endorse” a recent report from Draghi, the former European Central Bank president, on how to improve competitiveness in the region.
This comes as the automotive industry is struggling with headwinds in the form of tariffs and a weakening economy in China.
Mercedes posted a profit warning on 19 September 2024, citing weakness in the Asian nation as the main cause of its woes.
Kallenius said the automaker was “on track” with its cost-cutting plans, adding that “no company is static.”