Renault Group CEO Carlos Ghosn has said that there’s no consumer appetite for low-emission cars, and that governments will need to look at the example of diesel engines to ensure success of new technology.
The Brazilian-born boss told journalists at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan, USA, “There are 85 million cars sold every year, and if you look at what is sold compared with the technology available, it’s very conservative. Consumers are extremely wary about the price they pay, the resale value and the total cost of ownership. This is the debate we have with regulators all around the world – it’s not a question of technology itself, but the marketability of the technology.”
Ghosn went on to use the popularity of diesel in Europe as an example that authorities could follow: “Diesel is interesting – it’s grown a lot in Europe for many years, it’s more than 50% of the market. I don’t think that was because there was a market demand for diesel – the regulators and the governments put so many incentives behind it that it ended up being 50% of the market. It was good direction provided by the European governments. In the USA and Japan you’ve got equivalent markets where they didn’t have those incentives and they’re not buying diesels.”
January 19, 2016