Germany will urge the European Union to scrap a planned 2035 ban on the sale of combustion engine cars, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday, as Berlin battles to boost its embattled car industry.
Speaking at a press conference, Merz said he would write to the European Commission on Friday to ask it to permit the sale of hybrid and highly efficient combustion engine cars beyond 2035 in addition to electric vehicles (EVs).
“We’re sending the right signal to the commission with this letter,” Merz said, adding that the German government wanted to protect the climate in “a technology-neutral way”.
The EU’s planned ban has faced complaints from some automakers that it was unworkable given European drivers’ tepid takeup of EVs.
The EU in September said it would fast-track a review of its plans to give carmakers more certainty.
Merz has repeatedly spoken out against the ban — but he needed to discuss the matter with his centre-left Social Democrat (SPD) coalition partners before communicating a joint position to the EU.
Speaking alongside Merz, SPD Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said his party agreed with Merz’s centre-right CDU that there had to be changes to the ban.
“The future viability of the German automotive industry, securing jobs, that is the key argument for us,” he said.
“We agree that the future of the industry is electric… (but) we need to be open to more technologies, we need flexibility,” Klingbeil added.
The German car sector is in crisis, faced with the costs of ramping up investment into EVs as well as increasingly fierce Chinese competition that is biting into sales.
Speaking alongside Merz and Klingbeil, the head of the CDU’s Bavarian sister party Markus Soeder said the government would introduce a susbsidy of up to €5,000 ($5,780) for the purchase of electric or hybrid cars with components largely made in Germany in an effort to boost the car industry.
On Wednesday, European Commission Vice-President Stephane Sejourne said that the EU was willing to show “flexibility” in how the combustion engine phase-out is achieved, ahead of a commission announcement expected on December 10.
