EU regulations and high prices sink the automotive industry

On the deep crisis in the car industry, Italians expect Europe to decide to change the rules it has imposed (45%) but also the closure of factories with the associated loss of jobs (44%). This is what emerges from an Ipsos survey for the think tank AgitaLab.

For weeks now, the media have been buzzing about the difficulties facing the automotive industry in the old continent, where it accounts for 8% of GDP and employs/employs almost 13 million people, both direct and indirect. Now there is insistent talk of further lay-offs for Stellantis and even the Volkswagen Group has met with the trade unions to explain the difficulties and fear the closure of some plants. According to the panel, representative of the adult population, this situation can be attributed to the policy of manufacturers, who have raised car prices too high (53% of respondents), just when their Chinese competitors are offering cars that are much more competitive in terms of price and quality (according to 41%). However, there is also a 30% who think that it is the rules imposed by Europe that do not allow the industry to produce what consumers demand.

In order to avert the death of jobs, one in three trusts in government intervention with strong incentives for the sale of electric cars, while just one in ten expects demand for these cars to grow strongly in the coming years and solve the problem. The fact that many consumers do not buy an electric car is due, for one in two respondents, to the price, which is higher than the corresponding petrol/hybrid model. This is followed by insufficient range for extra-urban use, indicated by 30% of the panel, and charging times that are too long for normal car use, for 27%. However, one in four also points to the lack of confidence in a new and evolving technology, as well as the insufficient availability of charging stations. Only one in six attributes poor sales to a lack of consumer interest.

That the battery-powered car is particularly suitable for cities is also confirmed by 44%, who consider the choice to be influenced by the possibility of driving at all times and even in LTZs. The other lever, indicated by 43%, is environmental awareness.

Whatever the opinions of the Italians, in a few months the flop of the electric car will drag with it the entire industry, which has already announced that it will reduce the production of thermals by a few million, due to the mechanism of fines. Thus the average lifespan of cars, now close to 30 years, will increase again, with excellent results for the environment and road safety: it's called the Cuba effect.