EU automakers offer deals to boost EV sales

Europe's electric vehicle, or EV, makers are offering deals to try to boost sales and avoid 15 billion euros ($15.7 billion) of fines that could be heading their way if they fail to meet new quotas set by the European Union.

With the bloc insisting, as of Jan 1, 2025, that at least 20 percent of cars sold by Europe's automakers are electric, and with the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association saying companies are only currently managing around 13 percent, makers are pulling out the stops to get more people driving EVs.

In addition to cutting the price of some EV models, carmakers including Volkswagen, Stellantis, which makes Peugeot, and Renault have hiked the price of petrol vehicles, partly, according to the Reuters news service, to subsidize discounts on EVs.

Companies are also reportedly pooling emissions totals, so those that are performing well can offset some of the damage done by those that are not.

And they are planning to roll out new affordable EV models next year, to appeal to price-sensitive buyers.

Marc Mortureux, director of the French car lobby group Plateforme Automobile, or PFA, told Reuters the auto industry will need to significantly ramp up EV sales if it is to meet its new target.

"The gap is really big," he said.

The challenge comes as many European automakers have complained that the market is already too competitive.

Beatrix Keim, from the Center for Automotive Research, told Reuters: "Carmakers have started with their pricing strategy to steer demand towards battery EVs in order to reach the CO2 targets and avoid potential fines."

Experts are predicting the incentives will help ensure EV sales in Europe rise by 41 percent between now and 2025, up to 3.1 million units.

Automakers have complained, however, that the EU's new emissions targets are too ambitious and called on the bloc to revise them to something more achievable.

Luc Chatel, president of the PFA, told reporters ahead of the Paris auto show in October: "At some point, enough is enough. I can't sell enough electric vehicles and I'm going to be penalized on my thermal vehicles. What do they want me to make, horse-drawn carriages?"

In a bid to help Europe's automakers increase their competitiveness, the European Commission and the European Investment Bank have partnered to offer the EU's battery manufacturing sector 3 billion euros in new investment.

The European Council on Foreign Relations has also said recently the EU's automakers will need to increase investment in new technologies, such as solid-state batteries.