While Merz hesitates, Transport Minister finds clear words on the combustion engine ban

Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder rejects the EU's 2035 ban on combustion engines and advocates achieving climate targets in transport without technological specifications. "The government doesn't dictate how we do this in detail. Especially not with regard to combustion engines, e-mobility, hydrogen, or anything else. We have to set the guardrails, show the way forward, and also promote them. But ultimately, it must be a consumer decision," said Minister Patrick Schnieder in an interview with "Auto Motor & Sport."

“The market – and not bans – will regulate what prevails and makes sense. The industry is taking the path it believes is right here," Schnieder continued. At the IAA in Munich, which began today, the topic was also discussed during the visit of Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) and Bavaria's Minister-President Markus Söder (CSU). While Söder clearly opposed the ban, Merz remained vague. Merz did not comment directly on the phase-out of combustion engines, only calling for "technological openness in drive systems." "We don't want to be limited to a single solution. We want competition among the best technologies. Always combined with effective climate protection," Merz said. CDU sources, however, say that the Chancellor cannot prevail on this issue against the SPD, which insists that Germans will only be allowed to buy electric cars from 2035 onwards.

Several countries have set an end date for the sale of gasoline and diesel cars, including the United Kingdom, Ethiopia, Denmark, and Thailand. Certain cities, such as Paris, have also enacted their own regulations on combustion engine driving bans. However, two major car-producing nations are taking a completely different approach and have adjusted their plans:

• In China , the leading nation for electric cars, there is no explicit ban on combustion engines. Despite strong growth in the battery-powered vehicle sector, the Chinese are also continuing to develop combustion engines, although the focus is on various forms of hybrid drive.
• A radical change took place in the USA . President Trump revoked California's special right to ban all new non-electric cars by 2035, similar to the EU's ban. Furthermore, the new US administration has abolished some emissions limits . Car manufacturers in the USA now only have to limit emissions of pollutants, but no longer CO2. Furthermore, no more tax revenue will be spent at the federal level in the USA to subsidize e-mobility.