Blåhaj PieFed‘The Chinese will not pause’: Volvo and Polestar bosses urge EU to stick to 2035 new petrol car ban
www.theguardian.com/business/2025/dec/02/china-…
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macnielIt’s just insanity. This flip floping around doesn’t help the automobile industries at all, the switch will come and instead of preparing for it they instead invest time and money to bribe politicians uh I mean lobbying.
Both Volvo and Polestar are Chinese as far as ownership is concerned.
RidderSportAnd both are mostly EV already, Polestar fully. I mean they’re right but not really objective
It’s not only Geely owned manufacturers saying this though. The ceo of Stellantis said the exact same thing a week ago. Companies that did their homework will make the deadline easily, whereas the laggards will suffer.
And then you have Volkswagen, who went full EV, screwed it up by half-assing it, backpedalled under shareholder pressure and is now at the forefront of this lobbying.
Is it necessary to be “objective” in this case?
It’s not like the ICE manufacturing companies are any more objective.
Sometimes there’s just a right and wrong, and we don’t need 50/50 objectivity to see what’s what.
No objectivity, if there even is any party actually objective in this matter, is not necessary, I just wanted to point that put since I presumed that many might not now Polestar in general nor what the model lineup of both companies looks like
Volvo and Polestar are Swedish companies. Once a time Volvo was owned by Ford. The company was as Swedish with an American owner as with a Chinese owner.
GoldholzYes! We should stick to it! Its the german car industries fault for not keeping up. Not our problem! We shouldnt pay the price for it!
Volvo cars and Polestar are both Chinese majority owned lol
I didnt say we should buy them. Obviousely we need to make our own!
They are made in Europe, it’s just ironic that Volvo are owned by Geely, so even if you buy a euro made car, it still benefits China. They’re not stupid lol
Yes, please race to see which country electrify and transition away from fossiel fuel the fastest.
Dear Swedes, please save us.
Dear Chinese*
Volvo and Polestar are owned by the Chinese.
The article is explicitly about the company CEO’s objections to the change of course in Brussels. Neither of them are Chinese.
Anyhow, if it’s the Chinese that save us from shooting ourselves in the foot, that’s fine too.
Okay so I read it too now and you’re right in that it’s the Swedes calling for the EU to be sensible, but it’s still the Chinese saving us from ICEs essentially - because they get to give Volvo (and Polestar) directions and besides some of the newer models are shared platforms with their other makes too.
Ah well, I can’t read the article, I don’t have a Guardian subscription.
Huh. I don’t either but can read it just fine.
I don’t accept peronalised advertising or cookies anywhere.
I would rather see the Union succum than to see it a vassal of china
So glad that EU governments will offer an EV to anyone who can’t afford but needs a car by 2035.
It’s banning new sales. Not pre-existing cars. Besides, used BEV prices are coming down too with 6 year old cars just coming down below 10k€. That’s kinda important, as 2020 saw a big uptick in number of available models and cars sold.
So given that, why aren’t you asking for a beat* up ICE-car today for anyone that can’t afford one but needs one today?
And if you really need a car, you probably drive quite a bit and if so, you really should look at EVs anyways since the running costs are a good deal lower.
Its banning production and sales of new fossile fule cars. Not banning the cars themself
Not banning the cars themself
Except for banning them in specific areas and raising taxes and insurance on them, sure, it’s not banning the sale of new (and used?) ICEs… just screwing over whomever wants/needs to keep them and would rather avoid contributing to a landfill.
Not to mention most new cars, regardless of drivetrain, are spyware computers on wheels with built-in obsolescence.
But that’s nothing new, Germany banned old diesels and very old petrol cars from cities long ago.
Edit to explain why I, a petrolhead, am not against that move: Good transit eliminates like 90% of the NEED for city driving. The other 10% can be handled by compliant cars, whether they be rentals or owned by the people/companies using them.
ts not a question of if but of how and cost effort worth
And the people who had those cars?
I don’t get the “it’s nothing new so it’s ok” argument though.
And the people who had those cars?
Can park them at the edge of the city and take a train or bus.
If they live in the city, they can just take a train or bus and don’t need to own a car if they can’t afford to.
There’s still lots of these cars for sale in Germany. The fact that they haven’t all been exported to countries without such restrictions already, means they’ve been used in the meantime, since the restrictions have been in place a long time and a car that sits for too long is going to have a LOT of issues.
Are you for us using fossile fule instead?
Also if you are scared of spyware…why are you on the internet my guy?
Are you for us using fossile fule instead?
No, just against blind EV adoption and zealotry.
Also if you are scared of spyware…why are you on the internet my guy?
The internet is a network, cars are vehicles. Try harder. Or don’t.
What about it its zealotry
You arent typing this on the internet, you are typing this on a machine/device CONNECTED TO the internet. A device that is routing your info and data threw an IP adress and if its a mobile device also probably has a GPS function. If its a mobile phone, even if it doesnt have internet telecomunication it can be tracked. Smart cars are also connectable to the internet and have build in GPS. Anything connected to the internet or satelite can be tracked and traced! Its not a question of if but of how and cost effort worth
Its not a question of if but of how and cost effort worth
Should be a question of why, really.
New smartphones ones are surveillance and built-in obsolescence, i’d rather avoid them and… can… to an extent.
New cars are surveillance and built-in obsolescence on wheels, i’d rather avoid them and i can.
You don’t have to send your car to landfill if it still works. you can always sell it
Why would i sell a perfectly functioning car?
And if selling new cars (which tend to have more efficient engines) is banned, what’s preventing selling of old ones?
Why would i sell a perfectly functioning car?
To buy one that doesn’t fall afoul of regional emission restrictions, e.g. the ULEZ in london
what’s preventing selling of old ones?
Nothing, eventually they will find their way off the road through accumulated wear/damage. perhaps further down the road due to lack of access to fuel sources.
To buy one that doesn’t fall afoul of regional emission restrictions, e.g. the ULEZ in london
That’s cute but in my neck of the woods used cars are severely underpriced (unless you buy all the parts from a scrapyard, then they’d cost quite a lot) and new cars are generally overpriced anyway,
We’re still making new dino juice burners? Come the fuck on.
My favorite was watching car nuts tout their 0-60 times and how fast they could do quarter miles, and now that consumer EVs can rip their cars a new one they’re like “0-60 doesn’t matter!”
Lolz. Lmao, even.
I do find it amusing that we’ve been chained at the waste to the hydrocarbon industry for decades longer than necessary, in no small part because we needed to prop up the Middle East as a buttress against a now-defunct Soviet Union. And now we’re frantically switching to electric seemingly entirely because we’re terrified of a Chinese Industrial Century.
When will western state leaders decide on domestic policy on its own terms and stop chasing the foreign devils? You don’t need to switch to electric because of China. You can devise a sensible domestic policy based purely on what is best for EU member states.
Interestingly, the moral imperative behind the switch to electric was largely acknowledged up until China established itself as a major player in the industry.
As soon as it became apparent a non Western-aligned country / corporation could be leading this shift, there’s been hesitation either in the form of doubling down on hydrocarbons or rapid adoption / incentives to spur indigineous manufacturing in the West.
The reality is China has the lead and, at this rate, is going to keep widening the gap. The question is what is best for EU member states? To accept what may become a long term dependence on Chinese technology or try to play catch up.
They should know.
I wish more cars were mild hybrids that had both gasoline and electric motors but don’t need to plug in. They are fast and have good mpg
At every given moment you’re carrying around a very heavy extra motor and a very heavy extra fuel supply. Hybrids aren’t the answer, unless the question is “How can we carry on selling more cars without really changing anything?”
Burn a bit of fuel as a treat?