VW, Mercedes welcome EU combustion engine ban

BERLIN -- Volkswagen Group and Mercedes-Benz signaled that they consider the European Union’s plan to enforce a 100 percent reduction in passenger-car CO2 emissions by 2035 to be achievable.

The regulation will have the effect of outlawing sales of new cars with internal-combustion engines in the bloc after that date.

The European Parliament backed the plan on Wednesday despite attempts by industry groups, including the influential German auto association VDA, to weaken the reduction goal to 90 percent.

VW called the EU’s plan an "ambitious but achievable goal" and said the industry's shift to electromobility is "irreversible."

“It is the only ecologically, technologically and economically sensible way to replace combustion engines as quickly as possible," the automaker said.

Mercedes-Benz also welcomed the ban in principle.

"By 2030, we are ready to go fully electric wherever market conditions allow," the group's head of external relations, Eckart von Klaeden, told the German Press Agency (DPA) on Thursday.

"The decision puts the onus on policymakers to ensure the necessary infrastructure is in place,” von Klaeden said.

The plan to eliminate CO2 emissions from vehicles is part of the European Commission’s "Fit for 55" package to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

VW said the parliament’s support helps to give automakers planning security for the future.

The European auto industry’s main lobbying group, ACEA, has expressed general support for the target but called for a halfway progress report to determine post-2030 targets.

Ford Motor, VW Group, Stellantis and Jaguar are among automakers that have said they will stop selling gasoline and diesel cars in Europe by 2035 or before.