In order to plug the hole generated in the general budgets, the German government has abruptly ended the state subsidy for the purchase of electric cars, a decision announced last week and which has shocked the sector in Germany.
An electric car costs an average of 52,700 euros in this country, according to a recent calculation by the Center for Automotive Management (CAM), and only the subsidy helped customers opt for electric models, so manufacturers fear a serious drop in sales in 2024. For now, the announcement, however, has had the opposite effect.
To scratch the latest subsidies granted, since the announcement there has been a peak in applications at the Federal Office of Economic Affairs and Export Control (Bafa), which began with the initially vague announcement last Wednesday, registering 1,840 applications for subsidies on Thursday. financing, and reached a real boom on Saturday with 7,295 applications in just one day. On Sunday, 4,376 new applications were received, but at noon the new candidates were no longer accepted.
To boost sales, the German government decided in 2016 to grant a purchase bonus of about 4,500 euros and, according to data from the Ministry of Economy and Climate Protection, since then more than 10,000 million euros have been disbursed in total for about 2, 1 million electric vehicles. The program has been successful and has contributed to significantly advancing the transition to electromobility in Germany.
According to Bafa, around 376,000 applications for electric vehicles have been received so far this year and 2.4 billion euros have been paid. The number of applications decreased in 2023, however, compared to 2022: since January 1, only vehicles powered exclusively by batteries and fuel cells have been financed, that is, no more hybrid vehicles. Furthermore, since September 1, only individuals can apply for the environmental bonus, so the number of applications has been lower. In 2022, 3.4 billion euros were approved for 820,000 vehicles.
Experts now fear that electric car sales could plummet. The president of the sector (ZDK), Arne Joswig, has denounced “an incredible breach of trust against tens of thousands of customers who ordered their electric vehicles on the condition of financing.” Several manufacturers have announced that they will assume at least part of the bonus for a limited period of time. Stellantis guarantees the bonus on its own until December 31 for electric vehicles entitled to it according to the previous Bafa guidelines from the Abarth, Citroën, DS Automobiles, Fiat, Jeep, Opel and Peugeot brands.
For private orders registered until February 29, 2024, it guarantees a reduced bonus of 3,000 euros for vehicles with a net list price of the basic model of up to 45,000 euros. “We were very surprised by the decision to end the bonus with less than 48 hours notice,” complained the head of Stellantis Germany, Lars Bialkowski.
Hyundai takes charge for purchases signed before December 16; Kia for Niro EV, EV6 and EV6 GT models until December 31; and Mercedes and Smart will maintain financing until the end of the year. “We consider that such a hasty notice is not serious with our customers,” criticized Wolfgang Ufer, general director of Smart. “We will not let our customers down and, at the same time, we consider ourselves responsible for supporting the shift towards electric mobility. That is why we have decided to increase our part of the bonus without bureaucracy,” Imelda Labbé, member of the board of directors of Sales, Marketing and Aftersales of Volkswagen, also announced.
This means that all Volkswagen ID models that private customers have ordered before December 15, but have not yet received or registered the subsidy, will receive the manufacturer's bonus. Seat/Cupra will compensate the financing until March 31, 2024 and Tesla has not yet commented.
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