Crisis in the automotive industry and review of the ban on diesel and petrol cars from 2035

Priority question for written answer  P-002703/2024
to the Commission
Rule 144
Silvia Sardone (PfE)

Stellantis has announced yet another shutdown of its Mirafiori plant: demand for electric cars is so slack that it cannot even ensure their continuous manufacture. Suffice it to say that just 2 000 units of its flagship model, the electric Fiat 500, were sold in the first ten months of the year, equivalent to less than ten shifts at the Turin plant. Ford plans to make 4 000 workers redundant in Europe by 2027. Volkswagen has announced the closure of three plants in Germany, wage cuts of 10% and at least 15 000 redundancies. The crisis is also hitting the auto parts sector, which is experiencing the most serious job losses since the COVID-19 pandemic. Northvolt, Europe’s leading producer of electric-car batteries, has declared bankruptcy

Can the Commission therefore say:

• 1.What it intends to do to address the comprehensive crisis in Europe’s automotive industry?
• 2.Whether it is not time to reconsider the obligation to sell only electric cars from 2035 in view of their evident unpopularity among consumers in many European countries?
• 3.What action plans it will implement to address the many redundancies both in the automotive and the auto-parts sectors?

Submitted: 30.11.2024