Car manufacturers are coming under increasing pressure to reduce their emissions while making their vehicles greener and cleaner.
With the UK having mapped out its goals for a net zero economy by 2050, many car brands have decided to set their carbon-free future by phasing out petrol and diesel vehicles by a certain date – which varies depending on the brand.
However, recently with the drop in sales of EVs, some firms have revised their future product portfolios and have either extended a phase-out date for internal-combustion-engined models or dropped the entire electric future altogether.
We check out the key pledges of some of the biggest and most important car manufacturers.
Last year, the Swedish firm announced that it was stopping production of all diesel engines and would be focusing on electric, mild-hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains.
Its future goal was to become an all-electric car manufacturer by 2030 and with five EVs on sale, and a further five in development, it’s clear the firm knows where its future is heading. Plus, it wants to become a net zero business by the year 2040.
However, in September 2024, Volvo announced that its plans for going all-electric by the end of the decade had been adjusted in favour of aiming for a 90 to 100 per cent of its global sales to be either electric or plug-in hybrid. The remaining 10 per cent will be mild-hybrid models to be sold if the demand is there.
The blue oval is undergoing controversial changes in its model line-up. Firstly, there was the removal of one of Britain’s most popular and loved cars, the Fiesta and next year, the Focus will meet a similar end.
Also, bringing back two famous nameplates such as the Explorer and Capri onto vehicles that hardly resemble the cars of yesteryear means that one of the world’s biggest car makers faces a tough few years.
Its plans going forward are that by 2026, all its passenger vehicles in Europe will have zero emissions and by 2035 will be electric-only.
Currently, the firm offers four electric models and will be releasing its fifth EV next month.
However, in August this year, Ford announced that it had scrapped plans to produce a large three-row electric SUV and had postponed the launch of its electric pick-up.
One of the world’s biggest carmakers, Toyota, seems to be late to jump on the EV bandwagon and currently only sells one battery-powered vehicle in its passenger vehicle range – the bZ4x.
Although the firm has been in partnership with the European giant, Stellantis, since 2016 for producing its electric commercial vehicles, the Japanese firm is still looking into other alternatives to power our vehicles of the future. It currently offers the Mirai hydrogen fuel-cell car and it’s also looking into the hydrogen internal-combustion engine where the only emission created is water vapour.
In terms of electric cars, Toyota will add to its product mix over the coming years. In fact, a couple of years ago it announced that it was planning to introduce a total of 30 BEVs by 2030 and achieve around 3.5 million sales globally. But, there would be 10 new models coming to Europe by 2025, with the first being the bZ4x – which is built in conjunction with Subaru.
Just like Volvo in this list, Mercedes has done a U-turn on its future line-up of electric cars. Offering a wide range of EVs from its ‘EQ’ range, the firm announced earlier this year that the nameplate would be dropped in future for conventional names and that by 2030, all of its cars would be battery-powered.
However, Mercedes recently said that it would continue to sell internal-combustion-engined models past that target date. Plus, by 2025 it wants to have a sales target mix of 50 per cent of electric or plug-in hybrid models. But, despite this slight change in the mix, Mercedes will still be launching new EVs in the coming months and years with the next to join the line-up being a new CLA.
Another automotive giant with ambitious plans is Volkswagen. Its ‘ID’ range is scaling up with a total of five different models that run on electricity and even more to follow including a budget city car.
The brand wants to focus on its sustainability and has set a target to become a net zero business by 2050 and by 2025 will offer a total of 20 BEV models globally – with EVs accounting for 25 per cent of the firm’s sales.
The British firm, Bentley, is also focusing on an all-electric future and has ambitious plans to remove all of its internal-combustion engined models by 2030.
However, this is another manufacturer that has announced a slight change in its plans towards its decarbonisation strategy, pushing back its 2030 deadline to 2035. Meanwhile, it won’t reveal its first EV until 2026 – which will be an SUV.
In fact, Bentley has said that it will continue to offer internal-combustion engined vehicles until 2035 instead of the initial 2030 phase-out date it had first intended.
