The EU's energy costs, its attitude to international trade and the regulatory environment in the bloc have hindered progress towards electrification and put the car industry at risk, panellists told the Financial Times Future of the Car Summit today.
Europe must rethink its attitude towards international competition and trading partners, according to the secretary-general of the European Association of Automotive Suppliers (Clepa), Benjamin Kreiger.
"Competition from other markets has become increasingly fierce," he said. "We need to set ourselves up for competition with other economies that may have a different approach to subjects like subsidies, like working hours… can we afford the same approach to international trade as we had in the last few decades?"
Chinese automakers are now among the most competitive in the global car market, particularly in electric vehicles (EVs). China accounted for around 40pc of global EV exports in 2024, shipping roughly 1.25mn electric cars overseas, while firms such as BYD sold more than 4.5mn vehicles globally in 2025. Chinese brands are rapidly gaining market share in Europe, southeast Asia and Latin America by offering cheaper, high-tech vehicles that many western automakers are struggling to match.
"The disruptors to our industry are pretty significant, so we have to find solutions. Things are changing around the world and new competition is coming in that is setting the standards," the chief purchasing officer at Volvo Group, Michael Lovati, said. Lovatii added that companies will now need to seek partnerships with successful international competitors that have a technological head-start in the EV industry.
The chief executive of Horse Powertrain, Matias Giannini, explained that it may not be viable for western manufacturers to develop their own technologies because of the cost of doing so and they may have to take off-the-shelf EV tech for their brands.
"We also need to embrace additional technology, and that might not be feasible. The answer is collaboration," he said.
Regulation and energy costs deterring consumers
Panellists also heralded China's ability to transition to EVs without the need for an internal combustion engine (ICE) ban like the one that will take effect in Europe from 2035.
Europe's EV transition has been driven largely by regulation, with the EU planning to effectively ban the sale of new ICE cars from 2035 as part of its net-zero strategy. China has taken a more industrial and market-focused approach, combining subsidies, state-backed investment, supply chain control and domestic competition to build globally competitive EV manufacturers. While Europe's strategy has focused on restricting ICE vehicles, China's has focused on making EVs cheaper, scalable and export competitive.
Panellists also pointed out that consumers would avoid EVs if charging and energy costs remained high compared with other regions, despite the overall cost savings relative to ICE vehicles.
"It makes a difference if [it costs] you 3¢ to charge your vehicle or 70-80¢ on a European highway — 3¢ is the example from China. I think this is one of the single strongest factors for people to decide what kind of vehicle they want," Clepa's Kreiger said.
