Overview

• Ola Källenius, speaking as Mercedes-Benz CEO and ACEA president, told Handelsblatt that the 2035 ban risks a market “collapse” by prompting consumers to buy combustion-engine cars before the cutoff
• He said a pre-buying surge of petrol and diesel models would undermine Europe’s decarbonization targets and destabilize automakers’ sales trajectories
• Källenius urged the EU to replace hard mandates with tax incentives, cheaper public charging electricity and a technology-neutral framework to drive voluntary EV adoption
• Industry leaders point to weak EV demand, mounting competition from Chinese manufacturers and trade tensions as key factors that make the fixed deadline impractical
• The European Commission is set to review the 2035 CO2 rule later this year, and Källenius’s intervention adds weight to calls for more flexible, market-based policies