"Driving up consumer prices of European electric vehicles, at the very time when we need to fight for market share in the face of fierce international competition, is not the right move," said Renault chief executive Luca de Meo, who is also acting as ACEA's president.

Sigrid de Vries, the secretary general of ACEA, said it was unsurprising that the industry's appeals were meeting resistance.

Europe's car trade body, ACEA, agreed with Stellantis and called on the European Commission to extend the phase-in period, saying the supply chain was simply not ready yet.

The car industry supports more than 12 million direct and indirect EU jobs, according to EU automakers group ACEA.

Stellantis' Freedom of Mobility Forum - which on Wednesday held its first annual session - was set up by Stellantis last year after the carmaker decided to leave European auto lobby group ACEA.