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Stephan Jacoby, President and CEO of Volvo Cars, said today at an industry seminar in Brussels that the European Commission’s plan of reducing CO2 emissions and promoting electrification throughout Europe is mistaken. Jacoby believes that a lack of a cohesive incentive strategy and over-optimistic targets set by the EU will not have the desired effects. He said that the high cost of hybrid and all-electric vehicles is currently preventing European car buyers from adopting them. “Volvo Car Corporation urges the EU to coordinate incentives while supporting research and development”, said Jacoby, adding that if this does not happen, European carmakers will have to deal with the consequences.
“In the long-term, this jeopardizes our industry’s competitiveness and European jobs”, he noted. He also said that the Commission's White Paper on Transport, which has set a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 60 percent until 2050, by which time conventionally powered cars should be completely phased out, is unrealistic.
The sales numbers supports Jacob's argument: last year, less than 50,000 electric vehicles were sold worldwide, accounting for approximately 0.1 percent of total sales. Therefore, the EU’s estimate that all-electric and plug-in hybrids sales will increase to 30 percent by 2030 is out of touch with reality.
Jacoby’s comments are not derived by Volvo lagging behind its competitors in this segment; on the contrary, it has already launched the V60 Plug-in Hybrid and has started a limited-run production of the C30 electric compact.
Even so, the estate hybrid is priced at €50,000 (US$66,100), which Jacoby admits limits its appeal to customers. If EU wants to achieve its goals in reducing vehicle-produced CO2 emissions it must offer incentives, like the U.S. tax rebates or the US$15 billion earmarked by the Chinese government for its domestic carmakers’ research in electrification research and infrastructure.
