A group representing European automakers will make a petition for almost $55 billion in loans from the European Union this week, more than double what the United States Congress approved last week for Detroit-based automakers. The European Automobile Manufacturers Association represents 15 automakers, including the European arms of Ford and General Motors.
The automakers will ask for 40 billion Euros in low interest loans primarily to offset the necessary research and development to meet increasingly stringent emissions regulations. The European Parliament set emissions regulations from 158 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer to 130g/km by 2012, a figure that automakers say they can’t meet before 2015.
Fiat’s CEO, Sergio Marchionne told Bloomberg News that it is “Absolutely necessary that the European Commission do exactly the same thing (as in the U. S.) It was $25 billion for the U.S.; in our case it’s 40 billion (Euros) because we have twice the capacity. We need a level playing field.”
