Daimler committed to electrification but bans are not the answer - CEO

[November 10, 2021]  By Victoria Waldersee

BERLIN (Reuters) -Daimler AG's top executive said on Wednesday that while the company was committing to a COP26 agreement to phase out fossil fuel emitting cars by 2035 in major markets and 2040 globally, he did not believe all-out bans were the answer.

CEO of Mercedes-Benz Ola Kallenius arrives on the red carpet for the automobile awards "Das Goldene Lenkrad" (The Golden Steering Wheel) in Berlin, Germany, November 9, 2021. REUTERS/Michele Tantussi

A British government statement released earlier on Wednesday said six major automakers were set to sign a paper later in the day committing them to the goal of phasing out internal combustion engine cars (ICEs) in major markets by 2035 and globally by 2040, with Daimler among them.

Asked about the paper, Kallenius said: "What it says is we will work towards emission free driving in the main markets by 2035. That's exactly what we are doing. We should not be talking about bans."

Daimler has previously said it would produce exclusively all-electric cars by 2030 if market conditions allowed, and make its output carbon neutral by 2039.

The fact that it caters to a luxury customer base means it is easier for the company to transition towards electric vehicles than mass-market producers, Kallenius said on Wednesday.

"We don't want to be in a situation for too long where we are dividing our resources in two directions," he said.

"We will be sure that any ICE motors still built into Daimler are competitive, but from 2025 nearly all our money is going into electromobility."

Separately, Kallenius said that major semiconductor makers have told the German premium carmaker the global chip shortage that has hit the auto industry this year will not be resolved until 2023.

"We have many hundreds of chips in a Mercedes - it does not help if you have one, another one is missing," Chief Executive Ola Källenius said.

(Writing by Victoria Waldersee, Nick Carey, Editing by Louise Heavens)

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