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Volvo Cars has announced it will leave Europe’s main automotive lobbying group, ACEA, by the end of this year.
The automaker, which aims to be electric-only by 2030, said in a statement Friday that its sustainability strategy is “not fully aligned with ACEA’s positioning and way of working at this stage. We therefore believe it is better to take a different path for now.”
Stellantis said last month it will exit ACEA by the end of this year as part of a new approach to address future mobility issues that includes a shift away from traditional lobbying activity.
The automaker, which has 14 brands, said will hold its own annual event to address mobility issues. Together, Volvo and Stellantis accounted for 21.5 percent of sales in the region through five months, according to ACEA’s figures.
Volvo and ACEA have had very different reactions to Europe’s efforts to phase out combustion engines by 2035.
ACEA said last month it was “concerned” that the European Parliament had rejected efforts to weaken a 100 percent reduction in CO2 emissions from new cars from 2035, essentially outlawing sales of internal-combustion engines in the bloc after that date.
Volvo, along with Ford Motor, publicly supported the plan.
“We’re going to be a full-electric company five years earlier than that [the EU’s planned phaseout], so, why wouldn’t we be public and vocal saying that we think this is the best thing for our business model, our customers and for the planet,” Volvo CEO Jim Rowan told Automotive News Europe in an interview last month.
While he wasn’t ready to announce Volvo’s plan to exit ACEA in that interview despite being asked whether the automaker would leave the organization, he did say that as electrification becomes more prevalent: “There may well be other organizations that pop up and try and corral industry thought leadership to get to get the best minds together from an industry point of view.”
In Friday’s announcement Volvo made it clear it was open to joining such an organization and asked other automakers to be a part of this group.
“We believe that it is incumbent on all of us to step up to the challenge. We have one of the most ambitious plans in the industry, but we can’t realize zero-emission transport by ourselves,” Volvo said. “We urge our peers to make their mark. Whoever does so will find a strong ally in Volvo Cars. We look forward to working with partners to address climate change for a safer tomorrow.”