Volkswagen says small ICE cars are near end; EV is way forward
Volkswagen believe that the small car segment with a new architecture base for electric cars will make the segment more costly. This will only make the segment lose its charm to the customers.
New Delhi: Automakers have some good news with the European Commission proposing to go back on the 2035 sales ban on new vehicles with internal combustion engines. Still, brands have to slash fleet emissions by 90 per cent compared to levels in 2021. Even before the middle of the next decade, car makers must meet tighter CO2 targets, the newest coming into effect this year.
From 2030 onwards, the norms will be much more stringent. With that fact, Volkswagen are warning that small ICE cars have no future in Europe. The CEO Thomas Schafer of Europe’s best-selling brand mentioned to Auto Motor und Sport that models like the Polo will go full electric.
Why Volkswagen isn’t interested in small ICE cars?
Schafer went on to mention that the future for this segment is electric, and making an ICE car in the B-segment to comply with emissions regulations would be quite expensive. The costs would affect the pricing of the cars and lose all meaning if the segment became costly.
It is just a matter of time in Europe that small cars lose their ICE trims altogether and come with things like ID. Polo. While Volkswagen won’t be investing in ICE powertrains for small cars, the current lot will stay.
It is interesting how a top European carmaker is slowly putting away the hatchback segment. In India, too, the hatchback segment is slowly dying in favour of the sub-compact SUV and mid-size SUVs. Maruti Suzuki, though has quite a few cars in the SUV segment, there is a call for the small hatchbacks to be saved.
The EV demand, although it was suggested to be cooling, in Europe and in India, the figures say differently, with an increase in adoption. However, the adoption is at a slower pace than it had been anticipated.
In India, there is not much in the small car segment in terms of EVs, with more buyers favouring the mid-size SUVs coming in EV powertrains. It will be interesting to see how the EU changes in stance, bringing change in stance from carmakers around the world.