The Paris Auto Show draws to a close this weekend, following a bumper week of new car releases. Alfa Romeo, Audi, Citroen, Leapmotor, Mini and Skoda have been among the big-name brands unveiling latest models.
Aside from the debuts of prototype vehicles, politics has been intertwined with this year’s event. European carmakers warned politicians about what they see as over-ambitious green goals.
Oliver Zipse, the chief executive of BMW, called for Europe to rethink self-imposed environmental restrictions. The EU’s ambition is for no new petrol or diesel cars to be sold from 2035, but automakers want to see what Zipse called “a correction” in the timeline to avoid an “over-reliance on China” for fuel cells and lithium-ion batteries.
Previously, Italian prime minister Georgia Meloni said “the green perspective has been pursued at the cost of sacrificing entire production and industrial sectors.”
Tariffs on China-made EVs coming into view
Separately, Chinese auto firms have had to react to …