Andrew Neil warned that net zero targets could spell disaster for the auto sector as workers protest factory closures in Germany.

In a post on X shared on December 2, Neil wrote: “Workers at Volkswagen factories across Germany striking after the manufacturer said it would have to close plants amid falling demand and a slower-than-expected transition to electric vehicles.

“European governments’ obsession with net zero is a death wish on the automotive industry,” he added.

Thousands of Volkswagen workers in the country staged industrial action on Monday after the company announced plans to shutter three plants and cut pensions, DW reports.

€18 billion (£21.8billion) in budget cuts are planned, including major changes to its pension plan as well as the plant closures.

Speaking at a rally outside VW’s flagship plant in Wolfsburg, workers’ council leader Daniela Cavallo said the next round of talks with the company, set to take place next week, “is likely to set the course — rapprochement or escalation. We are ready for both”, as per the outlet.

A Volkswagen spokesperson said the firm respected the workers’ right to strike and had taken steps to ensure a basic level of supplies to customers and minimise the impact of the walkouts.

Last month, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticised EU plans to slap large fines on firms that fall short of carbon-cutting goals, arguing that they should instead be able to invest the money in emission reduction.

“The money must remain in the companies for the modernisation of their own industry, their own company,” the German leader said, as per The Telegraph.

His comments come as car makers insist net zero mandates are becoming increasingly unrealistic as the majority of drivers are yet to switch to EVs.

Porsche has become the latest brand to U-turn on its electric car pledges, admitting petrol engines will stay.

Just two years ago, the iconic German sports car brand claimed that 80 percent of its output would be battery-electric vehicles by 2030.

However, bosses have now accepted the brand may need to keep producing petrol-engined versions of their new vehicles as demand for EVs falls.

In the EU, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) has called for ambitious green goals to be delayed.

The lobbying group said refusing to extend targets coming in next year as well as the 2035 deadline for ending petrol and diesel car production “raises the daunting prospect of multi-billion euro fines or unnecessary production cuts and job losses”.

Almost 200 countries agreed to try to limit global temperature increases to 1.5C by 2100 under the 2015 Paris climate agreement.

This would require CO2 emissions be reduced by almost half by the end of the current decade, with net zero reached by 2050.

But despite the existential threats global warming promises, and commitments made by leading powers, emissions continue to be at record highs.