ACEA: Electric vehicle progress slow, European car industry faces 'perfect storm'
1min read The head of the European auto lobby said European carmakers were facing mounting challenges as demand for electric vehicles disappointed and costs rose ahead of tougher EU carbon-cutting rules.Sigrid de Vries, the lobby's director general, said on Wednesday that the industry was still "missing more than 2m cars in the market and in the factories compared to pre-pandemic levels. That creates a lot of tension — we sometimes call it a near-perfect storm".Last week, ACEA called for "emergency action" ahead of the 2025 EU emissions target, which could see billions of euros in fines for some carmakers as Chinese EV makers promote sales in the region.De Vries said that while carmakers were still committed to a green transition, regulators needed to be more "flexible" and find better ways to support the industry."We are in the middle of many negotiations," De Vries said. "We are informing policymakers about what the issues are, what the concerns are, and what the context of those concerns is."Sales of electric vehicles in Europe have lagged expectations after incentives were cut in countries including Germany, and a fall in Italian car production has been closely watched, prompting Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government to seek a rethink of EU rules.Volkswagen (VWAGY.US) also outlined plans this month to close its first German factory to save costs, and is expected to face the highest fines as part of the EU's 2025 carbon-cutting target.