Should we make more small electric cars? At the opening of the Paris Motor Show on Monday morning, unions and environmental NGOs called for “reorienting French car production as quickly as possible” towards small, affordable and job-creating electric vehicles.
The press release brings together the CFDT Métallurgie, the CGT Métallurgie, Greenpeace, Réseau Action Climat, the Nature and Man Foundation (FNH) and Transport & Environment.
“100,000 jobs” lost
“The results of the strategy of car manufacturers and equipment suppliers carried out for 10 years in France are alarming,” say the signatories, referring to “more than 100,000 jobs” lost due to “relocations.” and “production allocation options.” “For both drivers and employees, the bill is high: buying a car has never been more expensive, fuel prices are unstable and the switch to electricity is reserved for the richest,” they say.
“Other options are possible,” they say, highlighting the “poor strategic decisions” of manufacturers, “supported in part by public authorities.”
Although they acknowledge that they do not agree “on all the remedies”, the signatory organizations claim to be convinced “that the localization of the production of small electric vehicles in France, affordable for the greatest number, can constitute a turning point” for the French automobile industry by concentrating “industrial knowledge on the production of accessible vehicles” and “less impactful on the environment.”
“For this transition to be fair, manufacturers must reorient their production and invest in relocating productive activities in France and Europe, and not just assembly,” say NGOs and unions, who ask public authorities to no longer ” spend public funds without compensation on employment and respect for the environment.
Source: BFM TV
