Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said tighter emissions limits for pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide in the proposed Euro 7 standards are “useless” and counterproductive at a time when the auto industry is struggling to produce affordable electric cars.
The new standards are expected to be put in place in July 2025, a time frame that automakers say does not give them enough lead time to develop and homologate compliant drivetrains.
“It is not helpful, it is costly, it does not bring customers benefits, it does not bring environmental benefit,” Tavares said at a media round table on Wednesday ahead of Stellantis’ 2022 earnings call. “The ICE [internal combustion engine] emission part is something which just makes no sense.”
Tavares has previously criticized the Euro 7 standards as a waste of time and money, as they would require automakers to invest in catalytic converters and particulate filters, as well as electronics controls to cut emissions in fossil-fuel models that the European Union intends to ban as of 2035 anyway.
He said Stellantis would limit the number of Euro 7 applications to the minimum, while aiming to ramp up electrification as fast as possible.
Tavares, however, praised Euro 7 proposals regarding particulates from brake pads and tires.
Regulators say limiting pollutants such as nitrogen oxides could save thousands of lives in the future; in 2035, the EU says, Euro 7 regulations will cut passenger car and van NOx emissions by 35 percent, and by 56 percent for buses and trucks. Brake particulates will be cut by 27 percent.
Reuters contributed to this report