“The stop until 2035 is a senseless suicide”

He had said it and repeated it several times, but Matthew Salvini reiterates it today, in clear terms, to Turin Motor Showin front of a crowd of onlookers, passers-by and industry insiders, gathered under a September sun that lights up the event in the city of the Mole: “Outlawing internal combustion engines in 10 years is an economic, social, industrial and environmental suicide that makes no sense whatsoever”.

Thus the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport still promises to fight in Europa against the Stop the sale of thermal engines in 2035. “Next week – he continues – I will be in Budapest with my European colleagues to make common sense prevail over ideology, because technological neutrality means that those who want to buy aelectric car will still be able to do so in 30 years’ time.”

See you in Budapest

The meeting with counterparts from other Member States will therefore be an opportunity to illustrate the proposal of the Italian Government, which will ask theEuropean Union to anticipate from 2026 by 2025 the review clause of the farewell to combustion vehicles, foreseen by the EU institutions themselves during the approval of the ban on thermal vehicles. A mission that will also involve Adolfo Urso, responsible for Enterprises and Made in Italy.

“The goal,” Salvini adds, “is to advance the protection of the environment and that of the 15 million jobs that revolve around the car in Europe. As Minister of Transport, I have been trying for two years to find a balance between the right to soft mobility for those who love to ride a bike or scooter (and who with the new Highway Code will drive with a helmet, license plate and mandatory insurance), and those who use the car not only for pleasure, but also for work. In other environments,” he swipes at administrations led by left-wing parties, “those who want to expel the car from the city are harming millions of workers.”

The Executive’s initiative comes at a very complicated time for the sector’s transition, with sales declining, Stellantis suspending production of the Fiat 500e until almost mid-October, Volkswagen grappling with an underproduction crisis and the risk of closing factories and laying off workers and, more generally, several manufacturers backtracking on electrification plans.