European car industry bosses are believed to be locked into at least two months of intense negotiations with European Union officials over the final shape of the proposed Euro 7 pollution regulations.
According to one industry insider, car makers are facing the possibility of having to both significantly increase the cost of future internal combustion engine cars and slash the production of cheaper and smaller models.
City cars and superminis could be priced out of the market by the demands of Euro 7, potentially leading to plant closures and significant redundancies, insiders say.
Indeed, some manufacturers have gone on the record regarding the issue already, with Nissan saying that it won’t produce new engines to meet the fresh regulations.