Mercedes boss warns excluding UK from 'Made in Europe' law will hurt EU carmaking

By Grace Kim

Mercedes-Benz chief Ola Källenius has warned that locking the UK out of the EU's flagship "Made in Europe" legislation would be a "deliberate choice" by EU leaders to "hurt" the car industry across the bloc.

That's the sharpest intervention yet from the man who runs both Mercedes-Benz and, in his capacity as president of the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA), speaks for the wider European car industry. His argument is simple: if Britain sits outside the act, both sides of the Channel lose.

Källenius said excluding the UK would "weaken the industry on both sides," according to his remarks reported on October 14, 2026.

The timing matters. The "Made in Europe" act is intended to counter non-EU competition, and EU leaders are drawing the lines now over who gets covered. Källenius is pushing them to draw that line around the UK too, not just the EU's 27 member states.

What is the 'Made in Europe' legislation?

It's the EU's flagship industrial law, designed to strengthen European manufacturing against non-EU competitors. The carve-out question — whether UK-based production counts as "European" for the purposes of the act — is now front and center.

For carmakers, the stakes are structural. European automotive supply chains cross the Channel. A rule that treats UK-made components or vehicles as outside the European perimeter raises costs and friction for manufacturers on both sides.

Källenius, speaking as ACEA president, framed the exclusion not as an accidental side effect but as a decision EU leaders would be making knowingly. His words: a "deliberate choice" to "hurt" the industry across the bloc.

Takeaway: the head of Europe's most valuable carmaker is saying the EU can protect its industry from outside competition, or freeze out the UK — but doing both at once damages everyone.

Why does the Mercedes chief carry weight here?

Källenius holds two posts at once. He runs Mercedes-Benz, one of Europe's largest carmakers, and he serves as president of the ACEA, the industry body representing European automobile manufacturers.

So his warning isn't a single company's lobbying. It's the position of the association that speaks for the sector. When he says excluding the UK would "weaken the industry on both sides," he's channeling the collective view of Europe's car manufacturers, not just Stuttgart's.

That gives his intervention more force as EU leaders shape a law meant to counter non-EU competition. Industry's message is that the UK isn't the competition this act should be built against.

Takeaway: the industry's top lobbyist and a major CEO are the same person, and he's spending that authority on keeping the UK inside the tent.

What happens next?

EU leaders still have to decide the act's scope before it takes effect. Källenius's warning puts a price tag on the exclusion option: a weaker car industry across the EU, and a weaker one in Britain too.

The question now is whether Brussels treats UK inclusion as an industrial-strategy asset — or accepts the damage the Mercedes boss says will follow.