RENAULT, STELLANTIS BOSSES FIGHT TO SAVE SMALL CARS

De Meo and Elkann call on the EU to adopt a new CO2 life-cycle policy

- FELIX PAGE

Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo and Stellantis chairman John Elkann have called on European politicians to reverse the mandated switch to pure-electric powertrains and devise a more flexible strategy that allows manufacturers to keep producing small, affordable cars.

In a rare joint interview at the Financial Times Future of the Car summit, the bosses of the two rival firms rallied against the EU's and UK's 2035 deadlines for combustion car sales. They said the decarbonisation of the automotive industry is contingent on a more flexible approach rather than a framework of “deadlines and fines”, which ultimately makes cars more expensive for the consumer.

De Meo said: “We are here to fight for the idea that small cars still have a purpose and could be one of the ways to reboot the automotive market in Europe.

“The battle of the industry is to reduce the impact of transport. The obvious thing is to produce cars that have an overall lower impact. This is the case for small cars.”