Cars are becoming more and more unaffordable for average earners. Of course, this is currently due to chip and other parts crises, but not only. That’s why Renault boss Luca de Meo recently burst his collar: The group manager attacks the European crash test organization Euro NCAP and railed against the upcoming European emission standard Euro 7.
“The new specifications cost a lot, but bring little,” de Meo is quoted as saying by Automobilwoche. With the emerging target of Euro 7, new cars would be significantly more expensive and ultimately unaffordable for many people with only very small improvements for the environment. “That means that we have costs of around one billion euros in the group. Ultimately, we would have to add these costs to the end customer prices.” 1,000 euros for three grams. If the current Euro 6d (full) standard were to continue to apply until 2030, the average emissions per vehicle in the Renault fleet would fall by 63 percent given the long-established electrification, de Meo calculates. However, if Euro 7 were to be required in the way that has now become known, emissions would drop only marginally more on average – namely by 66.7 percent. “So we would have to make a vehicle 1,000 euros more expensive for three to four grams less CO2,” says de Meo. Ultimately, this would result in smaller, affordable vehicles gradually disappearing from the market, fears the Renault CEO. “Christmas trees with useless gimmicks” Once underway, the Renault boss also attacked the European crash test organization Euro NCAP. The last Dacia innovations Spring and Jogger were each given only one star by the organization, which the parent Renault found incomprehensible. “When it comes to safety, what counts is progress that really benefits people,” quotes Luca de Meo from Automobilwoche. “But what I see is that more and more things are being demanded of late – that turn the car into a kind of Christmas tree with largely useless technical gimmicks.” Five-star ratings are required because they exist on the technology market – but they are often not asked about their actual benefit for the vehicle occupants and the environment. “Security features are becoming a Disneyland for suppliers, where they can implement their ideas as they wish, instead of offering really meaningful solutions for the end customer.” De Meo emphasized that Euro NCAP has been a “very respectable organization” for decades. “She has helped us stay focused on security issues. But now we need a debate about what the right way to more security is.” De Meo appealed to the “common sense” of EU politics and called for the willingness to deal with the complex technical relationships.
source site-13