The company aims to stop sales of cars with internal combustion engines in Europe by 2035, as the company has shifted its main focus to electric car production.
“We will leave the European market for internal combustion engines at some point between 2033 and 2035, and do the same in the US and China a little later,” board member Klaus Zellmer wrote to Reuters. He further writes that the closure will take longer for the African and South American markets, but that the entire production will be climate neutral by 2050.
Zellmer estimates that electric cars will account for 70 percent of total car sales in Europe by 2030. He believes the new goal will prepare the company for this development, and for potential tightening of the EU’s climate goals.
The new trend
It may seem that stopping production of internal combustion engines is a new trend among car companies.
Audi confirmed earlier this week that they will stop developing internal combustion engines by 2026, and that all new models after this will be electric. The German car giant has ambitions to have as many as 20 electric cars in its portfolio by 2025.
However, Audi CEO Markus Duesmann says that the company will keep the door open for local production, for example in China, where they expect that there will still be demand for internal combustion engines.
– .
