Automobile company Škoda Auto, logo – illustration photo.
Prague – In the event of the introduction of the Euro 7 emission standard, Škoda Auto will have to close one production hall and 3,000 people will lose their jobs directly at the automaker. Including suppliers, about 10,000 people will be laid off. The reason is the economic impossibility of continuing to produce and sell the smaller Fabia, Scala and Kamiq models. In today's program Otázky Václav Moravec on Czech Television, Škoda Auto board member for sales and marketing Martin Jahn said this.
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“Hundreds of thousands of jobs will be affected in Europe,” Jahn said. In addition, according to him, the standard will not improve the air in Europe, because the renewal of the vehicle fleet will slow down and people will use older, less ecological cars for longer.
According to the current proposal of the European Commission, the Euro 7 standard should apply from 2025. According to Jahn, this is an impossible deadline. According to him, the situation would be calmed down if there were at least four years for the introduction. According to Jahn, after the extension of the deadline, it will be necessary to discuss the content of the standard.
Euro 7, in its current form, is intended, among other things, to limit emissions of nitrogen oxides and solid particles emitted into the air, not only from exhausts, but also from brakes and tires . The aim is also to harmonize the limits for petrol and diesel cars. Vehicles will have to comply with it for twice as long as the existing standards. In addition, the cars should have sensors that will allow emissions to be checked at any time.
According to Czech Transport Minister Martin Kupka (ODS), the Euro 7 emission standard is unrealistic and potentially harmful to the environment in some European countries, including the Czech Republic. The minister said this this week in Strasbourg after meeting with his counterparts from the seven countries of the European Union. Kupka met in France with the transport ministers of Germany, Italy and Poland, representatives of Slovakia, Romania, Portugal and Hungary also joined the meeting remotely. Among the main opponents of the Euro 7/VII proposal are Italy and Germany, where, just like in the Czech Republic, the automotive industry is an important part of the economy.
Škoda Auto has already announced that the introduction of the standard will increase the price of smaller manufactured cars in particular by tens of thousands of crowns, making them unsaleable. The price of small models would start at 450,000 CZK, which, according to Škoda representatives, is unacceptable for customers. Last year Škoda delivered to customers 96,300 Kamiq cars, 39,500 units of the Scala model and 92,700 Fabias. These cars accounted for 31 percent of the brand's total sales.
Skoda's trade unions also oppose the introduction of Euro 7. Their chairman, Jaroslav Povšík, will take part in a delegation to Brussels in April together with the chairman of the Volkswagen Works Council, Daniela Cavallo, and other employee representatives. “I will transfer all the knowledge I get from these meetings (with employees) to our European and even World Volkswagen Employees' Council so that we can lobby in Brussels objectively, and if it is not possible to use arguments, we will have to use emotions,” he said at the end of February.
This year, according to Jahn, the situation in the automotive industry will improve, supply chains will stabilize and production will be higher than the previous year.
