MILAN (Reuters) -Stellantis Chairman John Elkann urged the European Commission on Monday to give carmakers more flexibility on emissions targets, saying interim goals fixed for 2030 should be averaged over several years.
Elkann said in an interview with Politico that the industry should be allowed to meet targets over a five-year period from 2028 to 2032, reflecting a similar arrangement the Commission made for a 2025 goal which it agreed earlier this year to average across the 2025-2027 period.
The proposal would apply to both passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, he said. He added however that light commercial vehicles should be regulated separately, with changed carbon emission reduction targets.
The Stellantis chairman also reiterated proposals including for a wide scrappage scheme to remove older, more polluting cars from European roads, helping cut emissions and boost growth, with incentives to make vehicles on sale in the region cheaper.
In the interview Elkann said Stellantis was not seeking to change the EU goal of reaching zero exhaust pipe emissions for new cars in 2035, but wanted plug-in hybrids, range extenders and alternative fuels to remain available beyond that date.
Elkann urged the Commission to include all such changes in the package of proposals it is due to present later this year as part of its scheduled review of EU carbon emissions regulation for the auto industry.
(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari; Editing by Jan Harvey)
