Heavily affected by the coronavirus crisis, the automotive sector is eagerly awaiting the rescue plan promised by the government. It will be presented Tuesday, May 26 by Emmanuel Macron, according to information from the Parisian , confirmed by Le Figaro .
It will therefore be up to the President of the Republic to reassure the sector with this plan, which was initially to be unveiled by Bruno Le Maire. The Minister of the Economy has been preparing this recovery strategy for several weeks now, and had outlined its ambitions on France info: " We must make this crisis a lever to accelerate the ecological transition and to encourage the French to buy vehicles that are still too expensive for them today . ”
In its edition this Saturday, Le Parisien details the outlines of this plan, which is yet to be the subject of arbitration between Bercy and the Ministry of Ecological Transition this weekend. According to the daily, the executive should aim to boost demand, by strengthening all support measures for the purchase. Among them, an increase in the ecological bonus ceiling for the acquisition of a 100% electric vehicle, which would drop from 6000 euros to 7000 or 8000 euros. For corporate fleets, this same bonus would drop from 3,000 to 5,000 or 6,000 euros. Hybrid vehicles would be the subject of a bonus of up to 2,000 euros.
Still according to Le Parisien , the conversion premium for acquiring a new or recent used vehicle should be upgraded and widened. For modest households, it would go from 1500 to 2000 euros and could concern Crit'Air 4 vehicles. For very modest households, it would go from 3000 to 4000 euros, and would apply to Crit'Air 3 vehicles.
Question of survival
These gestures on the part of the State should breathe life into a very tried sector. In April, sales of passenger vehicles fell 88.9% from the previous year. Reports from the Canard Enchaîné , that Renault is considering the closure of four production sites in France, have also thrown a harsh light on the difficulties the French automotive sector is facing during the coronavirus crisis. The Renault case, which “plays its survival”, in the words of Bruno Le Maire in our columns, has reinforced a sense of urgency.
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However, the automotive sector will have to wait until the fall and the 2021 finance bill to discover the third component of the support plan: it should be integrated into the 2021 finance bill. This last chapter should aim to strengthen competitiveness of the French automobile industry, the second course set by Bercy with the decarbonization of the economy.
