All European carmakers have stopped developing new ICE, says Renault boss

Despite the internal combustion engines having a sizeable life shelf lying ahead, the automakers in Europe have stopped developing new fossil fuel-driven power mills, believes Renault CEO Luca de Meo. He believes that all European car manufacturers have stopped investing money into ICE projects, claims Politico. Instead, the OEMs are pushing funds into electric vehicles and hydrogen projects.

Luca de Meo's assumption comes at a time when the auto industry worldwide is hurrying for the transition towards greener mobility, and pure electric vehicles are at the forefront of that trend. In Europe, the European Union has mandated that no new internal combustion engine-powered cars will be sold after 2035. This has prompted European automakers to push harder for greener mobility, which justifies Renault CEO's comment.

Luca de Meo said no automaker in the European continent is developing a new combustion engine from scratch. "I don't think there's anybody ... that's developing a completely new engine in Europe. Nobody is, you know, from scratch developing a new combustion engine in Europe. All the money is going to electric or hydrogen technology," he said.

British luxury automaker under the Tata Group, Jaguar, has said that it will bid adieu to the ICE vehicles as early as 2025, with Renault, Volvo, Ford, Bentley and Rolls Royce will follow suit by 2030 in Europe. Stellantis aims to abandon petrol and diesel engines by 2030. Audi will launch only electric cars from 2026 and intends to end production of ICE models by 2033. Its archrivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz have committed to going fully electric before 2030 if that becomes mandatory in certain markets under the EU. Volkswagen and Skoda have expressed their desire to transition to an electric portfolio by launching many zero-emission models in the coming years.