Earlier this week, BMW CEO Oliver Zipse issued a stern warning to the European Union about the potential pitfalls of hastily abandoning internal combustion engine (ICE) cars. As the automotive industry grapples with stringent emissions regulations and an accelerated shift towards electric vehicles, Zipse’s message was clear: a balanced and pragmatic approach is essential for a sustainable transition. Zipse has been steering a flexible product strategy since he took over in 2015.
The Case for Low-CO2 Fuels
Zipse also talked about the immediate and impactful contributions to climate protection are paramount. “The most impactful contributions to climate protection are those we can make today: In other words, every tonne of CO2 we can save today – not sometime in the future – counts,” he stated. He argued for the urgent adoption of low-CO2 fuels such as e-fuels, E25, and HVO100, which can significantly reduce the carbon footprint of the existing fleet of over 250 million vehicles in the European Union.
However, Zipse expressed concern over the political instrumentalization of e-fuels in the debate over the 2035 ban on combustion engines. “At the moment, however, we see a significant risk of eFuels being politically instrumentalised in the debate about the ban on combustion engines from 2035,” Zipse said. “There are currently many indications that the EU Commission is striving for a bogus solution in which the ban on combustion engines is relaxed simply by ostensibly opening up to eFuels.”
Essentially, Zipse warned that without a concerted effort to accelerate the deployment of low-CO2 fuels, any relaxation of the combustion engine ban to include e-fuels would be ineffective and could amount to a de facto ban through the back door.
Navigating Regulatory and Trade Challenges
The BMW boss also addressed the broader regulatory and trade challenges facing the automotive industry. He criticized the EU’s temporary imposition of additional import duties on Chinese car imports, arguing that such measures do not strengthen the competitiveness of European manufacturers. “The introduction of additional import duties, like those recently imposed by the EU, leads us down a dead-end street – and will ultimately not make European manufacturers any more competitive,” he added. “On the contrary, EU tariffs on BEVs from China instead penalise European manufacturers like the BMW Group – since they also produce vehicles in China for the European market.”
Unlike some of its rivals, BMW has not set an end date for the production of ICE cars. Despite the Munich-based automaker’s advancement with the “new” Neue Klasse platform for future electric models, the versatile CLAR platform will continue to be employed across a broad spectrum of internal combustion engine (ICE) and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) models. Pundits initially criticized this perceived indecisiveness in BMW’s strategy, but market performance has demonstrated that the flexible approach was the right move.
In 2026, we will see the new G65 BMW X5, a model built on the CLAR platform. This will be followed by the G50 3 Series, G67 X7, G66 X6, and several M products, all constructed on the CLAR platform.