Carlos Ghosn, the former Nissan CEO who escaped house arrestwhile awaiting trial for financial misconduct in Japan, has taken to social media with some thoughts about the European Union and the health of the auto industry in that region. The ex-executive, who is still on Japan’s wanted list, doesn’t mince words about what he sees: a system or regulation that is hurting automakers.
His claim comes from being asked if he thinks the European automotive industry is dead. The European automotive industry clearly isn’t dead, but Ghosn believes it suffers from unnecessary and strict regulations and needs to be more competitive. Here’s what he had to say about it all.
Out Of The Box Thinking
Former Renault-Nissan Alliance CEO Carlos Ghosn seemed to have pulled off a great turnaround for Nissan and Renault… but was then implicated in various criminal activities.Nissan
Exactly what European regulations Ghosn thinks are not necessary, he doesn’t actually clarify. Europe is famous for pushing hard on emissions and safety regulations, and more recently, using regulation to push toward zero-emissions vehicles. However, the biggest threat European automakers face is the onslaught of inexpensive and quickly developed vehicles coming out of China – a country famed for a lack of regulation when it comes to manufacturing, particularly when it comes to paying its workforce.
“European automotive is not dead yet, but it is being suffocated. Less unnecessary regulation, lower energy costs, more openness to competition is needed. Europe has the talent, the brands, and the quality. What it needs now is speed.”
Indeed, the EU has ambitious targets set for 2050 for reducing carbon that involves the proliferation of zero-emission vehicles, something that Chinese companies have quickly become incredibly good at developing and manufacturing. This is perhaps what Ghosn means by What it needs now is speed. The EU’s ambitious targets for reducing carbon, ultimately reaching net-zero carbon emissions, includes manufacturing in general.
For any business to meet aggressive carbon neutrality regulations, it’s going to cost time and money. When the competition doesn’t need to worry about regulations, it has a big advantage.But how realistic is Ghosn’s vision when European automakers face entirely different challenges in key global markets?
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Escaping Legislation And Chasing Global Competition
The controversial former Nissan boss, Carlos Ghosn.Nissan
Ghosn mentions China, but also the US as an area in the global arena that European automakers need to be more competitive in. Chinese brands haven’t gotten a hold in the US, but Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai, and Kia are competing strongly against the US’s homegrown automakers. Europe’s best-selling brand in America for 2025 was Volkswagen, coming in at number 10 overall.
However, sales numbers aren’t everything and Porsche, BMW, and Mercedes aren’t looking to outsell Toyota to make healthy profits. The major problem German luxury brands are facing in the US right now is people not having the money to spend on expensive new vehicles.
CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters:
Regulation, no matter the country or continent, is an incredibly nuanced subject, and Ghosn made his statement in a short video clip and in a generalized manner that lacks any specifics. Automotive executives have a long history of claiming regulations hold companies back, but regulations have proven time and again to help restrict automakers from putting profits before people and forcing automakers to innovate.
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Regulations are a fine line for governments to tread, but it’s far from just regulations that shape an automaker’s success on a global scale. While EU regulations deserve a lot of scrutiny and can be legitimately accused of being overreaching, Ghosn’s examples of China and the US as places where European automakers need to compete more don’t really have much to do with regulation.
The subject of China is a particularly thorny case in point, as China is the largest car market globally, but also incredibly good at only allowing automakers from other countries to have a certain amount of success – as Tesla finally found out. At the same time, the US has been using tariffs to make imported cars more expensive while the cost of living continually increases faster than wages rise. The fact of the matter is that no amount of deregulation in Europe will have an effect in either case.
Source: Carlos Ghosn / Instagram
