PARIS -- Renault will become an electric-only brand in Europe by 2030, CEO Luca de Meo said, as the automaker moved up its timetable to halt sales of internal combustion engines.
Renault joins a growing list of brands including Stellantis brands Peugeot, Fiat and Opel, and Ford of Europe that have made similar pledges.
"Renault will be 100 percent electric in 2030 in Europe," de Meo said Thursday at a media event at Renault's technical center near Paris. In July, de Meo had put that figure at 90 percent.
De Meo said that Renault Group would probably still sell internal combustion models through the Dacia brand after that date, or if conditions such as lack of infrastructure or high electricity prices were not conducive to an electric-only lineup.
"We have a Plan B," he said, adding that Dacia will become electrified "at the last possible moment" in a way that respects the brand's "value for money" selling proposition.
The European Union is considering new rules that would require automakers to sell only zero emission vehicles by 2035; last year, EVs made up about 11 percent of all sales in western Europe, analyst Matthias Schmidt said on Tuesday, up from 6.8 percent in 2020.
The next big step-down in EU CO2 emissions targets comes in 2025, followed by euro 7 rules on pollutants that are expected to add even more cost to internal-combustion engines.
"We have an obligation to participate in the transition" to a carbon-neutral Europe, de Meo said in discussing the new target for Renault to become EV-only.
Renault has just launched the Megane E-Tech Electric, only its second full-electric passenger car after the Zoe that reached the market in 2013. It will be followed by at least four other full-electric models from the brand by 2025, including the small Renault 5, a compact SUV to complement the Megane, a small crossover or SUV inspired by the classic Renault 4, and a van.