The president of the Spanish Association of Automobile and Truck Manufacturers (Anfac), Wayne Griffiths, has announced the negative effects that the approval of the Euro 7 community regulation will have on the Spanish automobile industry, causing the closure of factories and the loss of jobs .
During his speech at a forum organized this Tuesday by Anfac, the also president of Seat has claimed that the Government does not support this future regulation -which is being debated in Europe and would enter into force in July 2025- regarding the polluting emissions allowed in the European car park.
Griffiths defends that the Euro 7 standard represents a “slight” improvement compared to Euro 6, subtracts investments from electrification, does not focus on the age of the park and will increase the price of vehicles by 2,000 euros, in addition to endangering small cars, which are the ones that are mainly manufactured in Spain. In this sense, he assures that the majority of vehicles manufactured in Spain would disappear if this regulation is approved, which would put at risk the closure of Spanish factories and the loss of “miles” of jobs.
industry commitment
Despite criticizing this regulation, Griffiths has registered the commitment of the automotive sector to decarbonisation, after the European Parliament voted last week in favor of banning the sale of gasoline and diesel vehicles in 2035.
The president of Anfac assures that manufacturers will comply with the regulations and, in some cases, will stop selling this type of vehicle before that date, specifically in 2030. Likewise, he has defended that they are the only sector that is going to completely change its model of business in 13 years (until 2035) with an investment of 250,000 million euros in Europe to electrify models and factories.
Democratize the electric vehicle
However, to continue promoting the electric vehicle, Griffiths is committed to “democratizing” its access to all layers of the population, encouraging its purchase, making it more accessible and promoting the implementation of a recharging infrastructure network to match.
“In a country where electric cars are not sold, it makes no sense to manufacture them,” he recalled. To do this, he has called not to lose the “competitive advantage” that the Spanish automobile industry has built in the last 70 years and to use European funds to accelerate the sale of electric vehicles in Spain.
