European carmakers reported to be seeking 2-year delay on EV production targets

The European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) is reportedly poised to urge the European Union (EU) to delay its 2025 electric vehicle (EV) production and emissions targets by two years.

ACEA is calling on the EU Commission to invoke Article 122 in the EU treaties – last used for the Ukraine war and the Covid pandemic – to delay the 2025 car CO2 targets.

The organisation is citing stagnant EV sales and an increasingly difficult market environment as key factors, highlighting the tensions between the EU's ambitions and the automotive industry's capacity to meet them.

ACEA expressed growing concerns about the automotive sector’s ability to comply with the EU's stringent CO2 emissions targets, warning that the slow uptake of electric vehicles is "sending an extremely worrying signal for industry and policy makers."

“The EU automotive industry has invested billions in electrification to put vehicles on the market, but the other necessary ingredients for this transition are not in place, and the competitiveness of the EU is eroding,” ACEA said in a statement on its website.