Car Wars: The Future of Europe’s Car Industry

The European automotive industry faces a 'perfect storm' of disruption driven by climate change, autonomous driving, and shared mobility. While Europe was the cradle of the car, it is now lagging behind competitors like Tesla and Chinese manufacturers in electric vehicle (EV) production and battery technology. The author criticizes EU policymakers for being too lax and suggests that the Greens are well-positioned to help steer the industry toward a sustainable and competitive future through pragmatic dialogue and ambitious regulation.

• The European Union's transport sector has seen emissions grow by 20 per cent since 1990, even as overall EU emissions decreased by 23 per cent in the same period.
• Several European countries and cities are implementing bans or targets for combustion engines and diesel cars, including Norway's plan for all new cars to be zero-emission by 2025, and bans on combustion engines by 2040 in France and the UK.
• Europe is significantly lagging behind China in the electric vehicle market; the European Commission reports that China offers 400 different types of electric vehicles compared to only six in Europe.
• China dominates the global battery market and electric vehicle production, producing 43 per cent of the 873,000 electric vehicles built worldwide in 2016.
• The automotive industry is being disrupted by three main trends: the shift toward sustainability (electric vehicles), the rise of autonomous driving (AI), and the transition to connected and shared mobility platforms.
• European car manufacturers face competition from US tech firms like Tesla, Google, and Uber, as well as Chinese giants such as Baidu, Alibaba, and Didi Chuxing.
• The author criticizes the European Commission's proposed CO2-emission targets—reducing emissions by 15 per cent by 2025 and 30 per cent by 2030—and its crediting system for zero- and low-emission vehicles as being potentially too lenient.

APA

Kefferpütz, R. (2018). Car Wars: The Future of Europe’s Car Industry. Green European Journal. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/car-wars-the-future-of-europes-car-industry/

Chicago

Kefferpütz, Roderick. Car Wars: The Future of Europe’s Car Industry. Green European Journal, 2018. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/car-wars-the-future-of-europes-car-industry/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Kefferpütz |first1=Roderick |title=Car Wars: The Future of Europe’s Car Industry |publisher=Green European Journal |date=21 January 2018 |url=https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/car-wars-the-future-of-europes-car-industry/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{kefferptz2018car, author = {Kefferpütz, Roderick}, title = {{Car Wars: The Future of Europe’s Car Industry}}, publisher = {Green European Journal}, year = {2018}, month = jan, url = {https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/car-wars-the-future-of-europes-car-industry/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }