“There are doubts with the electric car and the Government does not send clear messages”

by time news

2023-05-18 00:11:35

Wayne Griffiths preside la Spanish Association of Car and Truck Manufacturers (Anfac), a position that is compatible with that of the head of Seat. At the Barcelona Automobile show, and as a spokesperson for the manufacturers in our country, he receives ABC to explain the challenges of a sector that, alert, circulates at two speeds: on the one hand, some brands with ambitious industrial projects for electrification, and on the other, a country that continues as a red lantern in infrastructure and sale of electricity. This is how he transmitted it last Friday in Barcelona to the Ministers of Industry and Transport, from whom he asked for concrete and immediate measures.

–Everyone agrees that electrification is the future, but Spain is not advancing.

-We can not wait anymore. We are the second largest vehicle producer in Europe, but we are at the tail end of the electrification process. If we want to maintain this position, we must act now. We start from a basic premise: if electric cars are not sold in Spain, why do we have to manufacture them here? We have a great opportunity ahead of us: the factories are here, we have great potential in renewable energy… Now is the time to give buyers certainty and security.

–Well, the message that reaches the buyer is confusing.

–The Government has to transmit a clear message: the sustainable, zero-emission electric car is part of the solution to mobility problems and not part of the problem. Besides, there is a right to individual mobility that has to be recognized.

Renewable energy

–“We have 300 sunny days a year, good for tourism, but also for industry if we know how to do it”

–Messages are one thing and concrete aid and encouragement for the buyer to be encouraged is another.

–In this field it is not necessary to do very special things, just see what they have done and it works in other European countries. We agree with the Government in the general framework, that is, in the objective of decontamination, as well as in the diagnosis, which is that we are at the tail of this process: 10% of sales of electrified cars compared to 20% in Europe . In Portugal, with less infrastructure, industrial fabric and per capita income than in Spain, they are at 27%. This is the reality, what is missing now, and without wasting any more time, is to define and implement the necessary actions. It is not necessary to sit down to talk about electrification again, but to decide now the measures to be taken.

-Which are?

–As I said, no experiments or sophisticated ideas. Look at what has worked in Europe, adapting it to the characteristics of our country. In the first place, give incentives to the buyer, and when I say buyer I am not referring only to individuals: half of the market are company cars, and it has been seen that the countries that have accelerated the most in electrification have been due to aid to companies to change their fleets. Second point, and together with fiscal measures implemented at the national level, not at the regional level, ensure that these stimuli arrive quickly and flexibly, without so much bureaucracy. The aid goes through the CC.AA, with what this implies of regional differences. It cannot be that it takes a year to collect the aid, it has to be given at the time of purchase. And the third, very important part, is the public charging infrastructure necessary to provide safety to the electric car driver. That if you want to go from Barcelona to Madrid, be sure that you will arrive.

–The problem is that this network is not profitable now. What goes first?

–If I’m honest, the priority is to start the electric car market. We have seen in other countries that there always has to be a push from the market, which creates the need and business opportunity for charging infrastructure. You have to know where to start, and you start by fulfilling the brands with our duty as manufacturers to put accessible zero-emission cars on the market. And these are coming. The Government asks the industry to also do our part, and it seems fair to me. I do not want to pass the responsibility of electrification only to the Government. But we all have to push, and not only at the level of incentives, also with a speech that gives certainty, security.

2,000 euros extra cost

“We are not against Euro 7, but it has to be done pragmatically. The side effect can be worse »

–Well, in two weeks there are local and regional elections, and in half a year, general elections. Worried that an anti-car message will get through?

–I will vote for the first time in Spain, in the municipal elections of Barcelona. And when I speak of responsibility I am not speaking only of the Government, but of all administrations. In Barcelona, ​​for example, there are candidates who do support the right to individual mobility… I agree that the city cannot be full of cars, the city is for everyone, and there must be space for everyone, but the car It will always play an important role in the mobility of cities. When I’m in Barcelona in my apartment in the center, in the Eixample, I don’t need a car: I walk, take a taxi, go by Metro… but if I want to go to Martorell, that’s something else… Which can’t be it is to veto the car and not give alternatives. The result is not reached only by prohibiting; prohibition is not a solution. They have to encourage the use of public transport, which I use, but also combine it with the car.

–Of the Part of the electric vehicle, 2,000 of the 3,000 million remained unexecuted. Is that a failure?

–The first Part must be valued as a very ambitious project to stimulate the industry, and that must be recognized, but with all the conditions that the EU places, it has become difficult to administer.

–In the United States and China they do not walk with so many considerations.

–There is a reflection that Europe must make. If we want to be competitive, we need to respond to the aid package that the Inflation Reduction Act of the United States implies or to the behavior of the Chinese government: we need the same possibilities, the same weapons. At the same time, we have to be aware of our strengths, and Spain has a card that could be played, and that I think we are not playing yet, and it is our potential in renewable energy, and the possibility that the industry has that energy at a price that could be very competitive. We have 300 sunny days a year in Spain, this is a blessing for tourism, but also for the industry if we know how to do it. Europe cannot only be the spa of the world.

–How does 2023 look for the sector?

–Demand and the order book is very good, and we improve with the issue of semiconductors, although this matter will not be resolved until there are chip factories in Europe. It is difficult to make predictions, because a crisis that you do not expect can always come. We have to get used to uncertainty, but we can be quite optimistic about 2023.

–There is a desire to buy, but also many doubts.

–In Spain we have a very old fleet of vehicles: 14 years on average, one of the oldest in Europe, and people are waiting to change their car, but they also expect the Government to say clearly what to buy. The citizen should know that sustainable cars are going to have the right to drive in cities, with many other advantages… In other countries there are no doubts, and here people are confused because there is no clear message from the Government. There are even politicians who send contrary messages, who demonize the car, who say that the automobile industry must be ended. If we want Spain to continue being the second largest car producer, employing two million Spaniards each year, we must bet on this industry.

– Is modifying, postponing, the Euro7 regulation now the highest priority for the industry? What do you expect from the Spanish biannual presidency of the Council of the EU?

–We want Spain to have a clear position and we have discussed it with the President of the Government. The affectation in Spain of Euro7 can be very serious, because here we mainly make small cars, which are the most affected: There is a threat of closing production. It forces a lot of resources and effort that you would otherwise have devoted to electrification, and we have to focus on the zero emission car. We are not against Euro 7, but it has to be done pragmatically. The side effect could be even worse: the additional cost of applying Euro7 would be around 2,000 euros per vehicle, which will make many people decide not to buy, staying with their oldest and most polluting model. At the level of emissions the balance may be even worse. It must be done well and reasonably, and not dogmatically.

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