Automotive News Europe — 2025-12-04
Automotive Industry
France is asking the European Union to adopt rules that require automakers to build electric vehicles in the region, as nations continue to put forward different proposals in the bloc’s review on CO2 fleet emissions.
President Emmanuel Macron’s government wants EVs sold in Europe to include 75 percent of locally sourced parts, in line with the current content levels for vehicles powered by internal combustion engines, the country’s finance ministry said Dec. 3. France already has a plan in place to incentivize locally produced EVs.
The ‘made in Europe’ measures are designed to avoid “significant” job losses in the industry as well as the risk of “losing the support of our citizens,” according to a statement.
Not all automakers are in favor of regulations on local sourcing.
BMW CEO Oliver Zipse he does not favor local content rules that include a quota. “Europe’s competitive advantage is that it’s connected to the rest of the world. Harsh localization rules would throw this away,” Zipse said Dec. 2 at an event in Brussels to showcase BMW’s sustainability strategy.
Protection from Chinese competition
France’s finance ministry said Paris is calling for “proportionate” protection of Europe’s auto industry, with suppliers particularly exposed to Chinese competition.
Indicating the country is open to a trade-off, the ministry said France is “open to flexibilities” on the technologies picked to achieve CO2 emissions reduction targets, provided there are incentives to retain a competitive industrial value chain in the region.
France had previously sided with Spain in demanding that the EU to stick with its planned 2035 targets that will allow only new cars with zero emissions to be sold, effectively banning internal combustion engine vehicles. The position sparked concern among labor unions in the country worried that slower-than-expected demand for EVs will lead to factory closures.
German and Italian governments are pushing hard for the bloc to water down the ICE ban. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Nov. 31 said his governing coalition wants the EU to allow plug-in hybrids, electric cars with combustion-powered range extenders as well as “highly efficient” conventional vehicles beyond 2035.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, was scheduled to announce a relief package for the auto indutsry on Dec. 10, but a German car industry source said that date would probably be delayed.
An uneven transition to EVs has left many automakers grappling with overcapacity, prompting the industry to push for changes to the EU’s plan to effectively ban new sales of vehicles with tailpipe emissions by 2035.
Volkswagen Group has agreed to cut more than 35,000 positions by the end of the decade, while in France, Renault is reorganizing some of its operations, which could lead to job losses.