De Meo and Elkann call for regulatory flexibility in Europe

At the FT’s Future of the Car Summit in London (13-15 May), Stellantis’ John Elkann and Renault’s Luca de Meo called for a simpler regulatory world to make the transition to zero (or much reduced) emissions practical, and profitable, especially in small cars which are at the heart of both companies’ European product ranges. They called for more strategic thinking by national politicians and EU commissioners alike, especially urging them to decide whether they wanted manufacturing industry in general, and car manufacturing in particular, to thrive in Europe in the long run. Clearly neither of them think that the current regulatory and political environments are serving the industry—and thereby the population—in the best manner. Whether their call for change is heard, heeded and acted upon remains to be seen.