Recently, Mercedes-Benz announced that it will extend the timeline for vehicle electrification, and also announced that it will continue to invest in the research and development of fuel vehicles in the next decade. This is the second European auto giant after BMW to announce a focus on fuel vehicles.
At the same time, Luca de Meo, President of the European Automobile Association and CEO of the French Renault Group, said that it is feasible for the EU to completely ban traditional fuel vehicles by 2035, but it must meet the right conditions.
It is clear that Europe has generally extended the 2025 timeline for vehicle electrification to 2035, and the conditions must be in place. That is, in 2035, if "not eligible", the extension will continue.
The main reason why Europe has adjusted the timetable for vehicle electrification is that it is under pressure from the traditional automotive industry to lay off employees, and the invasion of electric vehicles in China has been severely affected.
Starting in 2024, major traditional European car companies will lay off employees one after another. For example, Bosch will lay off 1,500 employees in its drive division and another 1,200 in its software development department. ZF, Europe's No. 1 transmission brand, plans to cut 120,000, or even 180,000 jobs. Germany's Continental Automotive, Europe's largest auto parts supplier, laid off 7,500 employees.
It can be said that the widespread layoffs in the European automotive industry are closely related to the electrification transition. Transmissions and all-wheel drive systems related to conventional cars will become irrelevant in the future. This has also created a huge burden of layoffs in traditional European industries.
At the same time, China's electric vehicles are flooding the European market, which has also put the development and sales of European electric vehicles in a difficult situation.
In late February, China's BYD arrived at ports in the Netherlands and Germany on a roro ship loaded with more than 5,000 electric vehicles. The 200-meter-long BYD Explorer No. (BYD Explorer No. 1) departed from a port in southern China in mid-January1) Sail north around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa.
BYD has proposed a plan to secure eight of its own dedicated Ro-Ro ships within two years, which can carry 7,000 pure electric vehicles without the use of cranes.
German automotive economist Matthias Schmid pointed out that the monthly inflow of Chinese cars has been controlled below 50,000 units due to transportation restrictions, and he said that "2024 will be a year of rapid growth in Chinese cars and a big change in the EV power map."
We are not sure whether electrification is the future development direction of new energy, but China's electric vehicles have indeed caused a huge dilemma for European auto companies for hundreds of years.