At the beginning of March, Stellantis presented its Dare Forward 2030 agenda and how it plans to end sales of combustion-engined cars in Europe by the end of the decade. Yes, all its many brands will abandon the good ol' ICE within the next eight years: Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Citroën, DS, Fiat, Jeep, Lancia, Maserati, Opel, and Vauxhall. Some will discontinue gasoline and diesel powertrains sooner than others but all will be purely electric by 2030.
It means Stellantis will be ready for an increasingly likely sales ban on new ICE-powered cars in the European Union five years earlier than the announced 2035 cutoff date. Meanwhile, regulators still want to apply the Euro 7 standard to make gas cars more efficient in the EU and consequently less harmful to the environment. The new standards have been delayed multiple times and are unlikely to come into effect until 2028. A question arises – why bother with EU7 if it'll only be applied for a few years?
2023 Jeep Avenger
Speaking with the media at the ongoing Paris Motor Show where the all-electric Jeep Avenger was unveiled, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said EU7 should be dropped altogether. Why? So that automakers can spend the money more wisely elsewhere. Of course, the 64-year-old Portuguese businessman was referring to the development of EVs. The window of opportunity is gradually closing on greener combustion engines and the head honcho believes it's too late to further tweak gasoline and diesel tech.
"From an industry perspective, we don't need EU7, as it will be drawing resources we should be spending on electrification. Spending money developing more one step for internal combustion for a 2028 enforcement... it doesn't make sense. Why use scarce resources for something for a short period of time? The industry doesn't need it, and it's counterproductive."
Carlos Tavares went on to say EU7 has already been pushed back a few times – the most recent delay was last week – and that this step should be skipped since the car industry is "ready for electric." It's a different situation in the United States where the Dare Forward 2030 plan calls for Stellantis EV sales to reach 50 percent.
