- Italy wants the E.U. to pause or delay its plan to ban internal-combustion car sales by 2035.
- The country's far-right government says the plan is "absurd" amid falling demand.
- Italy's auto industry will "collapse" if the plan continues, the government argues, calling into question how prepared Fiat, Maserati and Ferrari are for the electric era.
Italy is asking the European Union to scrap its internal-combustion vehicle ban, saying it'll trigger an industry "collapse" if it proceeds as scheduled.
The news was reported by Reuters on Sunday. The 27-nation bloc is scheduled to ban all internal-combustion car sales in 2035. By that date, cars sold within member nations must have no carbon emissions. That means no plug-in hybrids, no hybrids, no gas and no diesel. Electric and hydrogen cars will be the only immediately available options, barring some unforeseen propulsion type.
"The 2035 ban on new combustion engine cars is absurd and needs to be revised," Italy's Energy Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin said, according to Reuters.
The country is calling for the E.U. to move up a scheduled review of the plan, hoping to pause, delay or cancel the mandate. The Italian government argues that consumers should have freedom to choose among competing technologies as they work toward decarbonization.
Italy's government is currently led by Giorgia Meloni, who leads a far-right coalition. Right-wing governments in most developed countries have imposed mandatory pushes toward EVs, and Italy's has another reason to push back. Italy's home-grown automotive sector has some EV options—the Fiat 500e, the Maserati GranTurismo Folgore, the upcoming Grecale Folgore—but companies like Ferrari, Maserati and Fiat are not widely perceived as EV leaders. They're also facing tough competition in their home markets from Chinese EVs and other E.U. competitors, notably those from Germany.
Germany's EV transition has been no walk in the park, either. Volkswagen is in relatively dire straights. Mercedes has had to pivot away from its poorly perceived EQ cars. Only BMW seems to be sailing into the future over calm waters. But all three German giants have more experience, more money invested and more market share in the EV world than the Italians. And companies like Ferrari will face a tough transition, as consumers have so far shunned electric supercars and hypercars.
With European automakers facing sales declines, profit plunges and factory closures in the wake of weaker-than-expected EV demand, Italy's plea may fall on more sympathetic ears than last year. If the U.S. pulls back its ambitions following the next presidential election, it'll get even harder for European automakers, who'll have to satisfy a zero-emissions E.U. market while the cash-cow U.S. market demands internal combustion.
It's a weird time for any automaker trying to map out the next 10, 5, or even 2 years. Regardless of whether you think climate change demands the strictest possible regulatory regime or that automakers can keep building gas-guzzlers until the oceans overtake us, automakers need clarity on what's expected of them. Hopefully that'll come soon.
