Cars at the crossroads: Europe slows down, the world accelerates

Europe rewrites the rules while the rest of the world races. The 'Automotive Omnibus' package presented in Brussels marks a political rather than industrial turning point: a complete ban on internal combustion engines by 2035, opening up to biofuels and e-fuels, technological neutrality as the new watchword. It is the end of a dogma, but not yet the beginning of a strategy. The EU raises the white flag over the 'all-electric' ideology and tries to get an ailing industry back on track, crushed by costs, bureaucracy and global competition. ACEA applauds, but warns: this is only the first step. The devil is in the details, and time is running out.

The paradox is obvious. While Europe corrects course, the United States splits over EV columns, with 16 states in a legal war against Washington. China, on the other hand, does not argue: it accelerates. Level 3 autonomous driving is entering the commercial phase and Beijing is bidding to dictate standards, not chase them. Japan grinds exports, exploits the weak yen and defends its industry with surgical pragmatism. In this global battlefield, Europe still seems torn between protection and vision, between announced flexibility and remaining constraints.

Italy is the most fragile mirror of this uncertainty. Unrae calls for clarity, intelligent taxation, 'bridging' technologies. The numbers are merciless: electricity at 5.2%, infrastructure behind, market below pre-Covid levels. Yet Luiss research says that the real brake is not technology, but perception. Without a coherent industrial policy, however, confidence is not enough.

2030 will be the real watershed. If Europe uses flexibility to invest and innovate, it can stay in the game. If it will merely postpone skinccelte, it will become a consumer market for other people's technologies. The fork in the road lies ahead: brake out of fear or accelerate with a strategy.