It's a little phrase dropped in the Senate.
Heard by the Senate Economic Affairs Committee on Wednesday, the chairman of the board of directors of the Renault group Jean-Dominique Senard denounced the unpreparedness of the automobile sector, which is facing a major challenge since the ban on the sale of thermal cars in the European Union planned for 2035. According to the big boss, the EU decision
“was taken with a level of impact analyzes which is close to not much”.
“The impact analysis has not been done,”
scathed Jean-Dominique Senard.
Shortly after,
“everyone discovered or pretended to discover that we had a huge subject around the question of the resources necessary to supply the battery factories that we are setting up in France”,
said he blurted out again.
A flaw linked, according to him, to the absence in Europe
of “significant access to mines in the world which produce metals necessary for the manufacture of batteries.”
Like lithium, nickel, or even copper.
“
The automobile industry finds itself facing major challenges that had not been anticipated,”
considers this captain of industry.
Also read: One in two French people do not know that the sale of thermal cars will be banned in 2035
Carbon neutrality in 2050
The decision definitively ratified by Europe in March 2023 is part of the European objective of carbon neutrality in 2050. And this, to better switch the automobile industry towards electric vehicles.
It marks the end of an industrial era.
For more than a century, the Old Continent, cradle of prestigious brands, dominated automotive innovation.
At the heart of its know-how, thermal engines considered to be the most efficient in the world.
If the environmental aim is obvious, the boss of Renault is worried about Europe falling behind other world powers, notably China.
“
For 25 years, China has implemented a directive strategy, taking control of a significant quantity of mining operations in the world, in Africa and elsewhere,”
lamented Jean-Dominique Senard.
It dominates between 60 and 70% of access to mines necessary for metals for the production of electrical energy.
And dominates between 70 and 75% of the metal processing industry.”
In other words, Europe will have to accelerate its transition in the coming years to be competitive.