Martin Lundstedt, Chairman of ACEA Commercial Vehicles and President and CEO of Volvo Trucks, addressed more than 250 stakeholders at the 2023 ACEA Annual Reception held in Brussels on 21 March.
The automotive sector is presently experiencing a significant overhaul, necessitating crucial and strategic choices to be made promptly. In the end, the industry must adopt a comprehensive and cohesive approach to tackle the enormous shift towards zero emissions that it is currently undergoing.
“The biggest challenge is actually the enabling conditions, because we are moving from a brown fossil-based platform into a green, renewable platform,” stated Mr Lundstedt. “This is a decisive year coming up and we need to work together.”
Mismatched policies – such as the current Euro 7 proposal – send confusing signals, and risk slowing down the automotive industry’s race to decarbonisation. Lundstedt: “We have contradictory legislations coming up that risk pulling our sector in different directions and taking away the focus from the real deal here: the transition to climate neutrality.”
“Policies and regulations should align, support, compound and not distract from the massive investments of the overarching agenda of reaching net-zero transport in Europe, while also at the same time reinforcing ‘made in Europe’,” concluded Lundstedt.
Source www.acea.auto