While Six Major Automakers Promised To Stop Production Of Fuel Vehicles, BMW Executives Explained Why They Did Not Accept

At the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, which was unveiled at the end of last month, six major car manufacturers including Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Jaguar Land Rover and General Motors signed a charter, promising to stop production of fuel-engined cars globally by 2040, But there are also car manufacturers like Volkswagen, Toyota, Stellatis and BMW that have not followed.

A few days ago, BMW’s head of sustainable development strategy Thomas Becker came out to explain why they did not join the signing of the COP26 convention.

Becker said that BMW has not yet determined a timetable for stopping the production of fuel-engined vehicles, because it is necessary to ensure the rights and interests of consumers in different countries.

He pointed out that in countries with well-developed charging infrastructure such as the Netherlands and Norway, BMW will choose to sell only electric vehicles there, but in countries such as Italy, Romania, and the Czech Republic where charging infrastructure is still lacking, BMW will continue to sell petrol vehicles until the charging facilities are complete.

Becker also stated that instead of asking major automakers to commit to a complete transition to zero-emission vehicles by 2040, they should set binding targets to ensure that relatively poor countries can gradually improve their charging infrastructure.

He also emphasized that the hard push of electric vehicles in countries where the supporting facilities are not yet complete will cause consumers in poor countries to buy older fuel used vehicles, which will have a greater impact on the environment.

In fact, BMW itself has its own environmental protection plan. For example, its Mini will be transformed into a pure electric vehicle brand. In 2023, BMW will provide about 12 pure electric vehicle models in the global market. In 2025, it will launch a new generation of electric vehicle products.