The Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, led a high‑level industry discussion at the Palacio de la Moncloa on a Wednesday, guiding a session about real market conditions and the push to electrify the entire value chain. The event drew participation from Wayne Griffiths, president of Anfac along with the Seat and Cupra brands; Teresa Ribera, the Third Vice President and Minister for Ecological Transition; Reyes Maroto, the outgoing Minister of Industry; Adriano Monés, president of Aedive; and Francisco J. Riberas, president of Sernauto and Gestamp.
Afterwards, Wayne Griffiths spoke in an exclusive interview with Prensa Ibérica to outline Anfac’s stance to the government and reaffirm the industry’s urgent need to accelerate the transition to electrification.
Asked if the outcome met expectations, Griffiths answered affirmatively, highlighting the opportunity to engage directly with the Head of Government and key ministries. He noted that the current pace of electrification and level of market demand are not aligned with Europe’s ambitious targets, pointing out that Spain remains behind with roughly 10% of vehicle sales being electric, about half the European average.
Question: Do you understand the industry’s needs? Griffiths said that the analyses and measures discussed should be followed through. The meeting, convened at Anfac’s request, aimed to accelerate improvements. He also announced that Valencia would soon host the groundbreaking for a battery factory, a project supporting two plant sites in Spain to manufacture cars under the SmallBeV platform within the Future Fast Forward program, valued at around €10,000. He stressed that customer demand must exist in the next two years for the plan to make sense, warning that the market needs to move faster and that prior progress had not been sufficient.
Question: Do they understand the stakes? Griffiths asserted that both the government and industry grasp the urgency. He noted that infrastructure topics were part of the conversation, with Sernauto president Francisco Riberas present and the electric vehicle association Aedive involved by government invitation. He described positive steps to bolster infrastructure while acknowledging Spain’s relative delay. He likened the situation to a chicken-and-egg dilemma: without cars, why invest in infrastructure; without infrastructure, why buy cars? The goal remains to spark demand.
Question: How will it be done? The industry leader highlighted measures announced to broaden the Moves 3 program, making electrification of fleets more flexible and supporting dealers with km0 used vehicles. He called these steps constructive but noted that additional actions had been requested since last summer.
Question: You have to stimulate the market. But how? Griffiths argued that simply nudging car purchases is not enough. The effort must bridge the gap to Europe, and the president demonstrated openness to exploring further options, with another meeting planned in two weeks to refine the measures.
Question: What did the government ask from the industry? He stated that the sector and employers must contribute to the support framework, ready to participate beyond making electric cars affordable. The emphasis was on practical contributions, learning from successful models in other countries rather than reinventing the wheel.
Question: How can development be sped up? Griffiths pointed to funds and the need to accelerate fund management, including upfront financing for users at dealer and manufacturer levels. He called for streamlined processes and, if progress is to be made, implementing measures that work across the nation. He also mentioned immediate financial assistance to end customers and reduced regional friction as crucial steps to move forward.
Question: Are we on time? The sense of urgency was clear: there is no time to waste on debates about whether action is needed. The government was clear about finding solutions for 2024 and 2025, maintaining a zero-emissions roadmap, and recognizing climate-change challenges as real. The industry aimed to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.
Question: Don’t you think there could be missteps with the Perte program? Griffiths described Perte as Spain’s largest, most significant project to date and welcomed European support for the sector. He warned against repeating earlier missteps but anticipated more flexible proposals to transform the industry.
Question: Have Euro 7 regulations been discussed? He expressed concerns that an early Euro 7 rollout could deal a heavy blow to Spain, particularly for small domestically produced cars. Without careful alignment, production could stall, factories could close, and as many as 1.6 million vehicles, 40,000 jobs, and 300,000 workers could be affected. He emphasized that while not opposing Euro 7 or the industry, Spain seeks a pragmatic approach aligned with other European nations. The government was encouraged to support a coordinated, practical path forward.
Question: Does the government understand? The prime minister was described as taking the issue seriously, with broad support across the administration. Participants sensed that listening occurred and that the government intends to act in concert with the industry.
The summary concluded that the government listened and that measures must be implemented collaboratively for 2024 and 2025, with longer-term plans already in place but requiring immediate action.
Question: Are you optimistic? Griffiths replied affirmatively. He acknowledged that while Perte marks an important milestone for Spain, faster execution would be ideal. He cited more than 2,000 million euros distributed with greater flexibility for manufacturers and the value chain, and noted that no other European project has matched this scale. Overall, optimism remained as the industrial community prepared to move forward and continue building momentum in a challenging landscape.