Ford wants political leaders to provide and a “clear and robust” strategy to improve the global competitiveness of Europe’s volume auto industry.
Stephen Odell, Ford of Europe chairman and CEO, wants “decisive political leadership to take the tough decisions necessary to maintain the integrity of the eurozone, reduce volatility in the markets and rebuild consumer and confidence, even if the actions are painful in the short term”.
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Odell, speaking in the European Parliament at the First Anniversary Conference on EU Commission Vice-President Tajani’s Europe 2020 Industrial Policy Flagship initiative, said: “We need to enhance the global competitiveness of Europe’s volume auto industry. EU regulation must be holistic in its outlook and ambitious; but not over-ambitious to the point where the equation for manufacturing in the EU becomes negative. That’s why we strongly support the principles of better regulation including the need to ensure that any regulation is cost-efficient and does not undermine competitiveness, and that the cumulative cost of regulation is taken into account.”
Odell also said that the EU should “focus more resources on advanced technologies so that the European volume auto industry can remain at the forefront of technological developments”.
And he called for transport policy to be based on “a positive vision of the future which promotes a portfolio approach and sets ambitious – but realistic objectives in the areas of environment, energy and safety.”
