Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kaellenius has joined the swelling chorus of voices warning against the European Union’s 2035 ban on CO₂-emitting vehicles, denouncing it as a collision course with economic and industrial reality. In an interview with Handelsblatt, he cautioned that the policy could collapse Europe’s car market—fueling a last-minute buying frenzy for petrol and diesel models before the deadline.

Yet Mercedes itself has long played both sides of the street. The company has paraded its electric vehicle lineup as proof of its environmental awakening, splashing green credentials across glossy marketing campaigns.

Behind this facade, however, its most profitable products remain the hulking SUVs and luxury sedans that guzzle fuel and spew carbon. At the same time, its EV push has too often served as a talisman for virtue signalling rather than a genuine transformation of its business model.

As head of the ACEA auto lobby, Kaellenius now calls for tax incentives and cheap charging to entice drivers toward EVs, insisting on a “technology-neutral” path to decarbonisation. But the subtext is unavoidable: Mercedes and its peers have used electric mobility as a branding shield while continuing to profit from the very engines they claim to be phasing out.

Without confronting this duplicity, the 2035 ban may fall victim not only to political backlash but to the hollow promises of those who pretend to lead the transition while quietly resisting it.