“The announcement of the incentives destroys the market”: dealers cry out in pain | FormulaPassion.it

by VINCENZO BORGOMEO
“Tell me if today you would like to buy a new car with the knowledge that in a month you would pay much less for it”. Adolfo De Stefani Cosentino, president of Federauto, the association of Italian dealers, is worried about the crazy situation that has been created.

Huge incentives have been announced, up to almost 14 thousand euros. But when will they really arrive?
“I believe that the government will want to announce them at the automotive table convened for early February”.

A very long time.
“Precisely”.

And in the meantime?
“We are completely at a standstill. Only customers looking for a supercar or a high-end car enter the dealerships. Everyone else obviously stays away. The market risks paralysis. And then there are other things that don't work.”

Guy?
“The government has already announced that aid will be available only to those who produce in Italy. But this is practically unachievable. Not only that: more than incentives, a real tax reform would be needed. And given that the scrapping just passed didn't work, leaving large economic resources, this money could be used for a real (and healthy) tax reform of the Italian market”.

What else do you suggest?
“The first thing is that you cannot announce the incentives and then not be timely in disbursing the aid. This is how the market stops. The scrapping is done and then we say…”.

Okay, but what loss could there be for the car market with the month of January blocked?
“It's difficult to make predictions. But I tell you that already in December, 12 percent of the market was made up of km0. And this makes it clear that, in fact, sales did not rise as much as it seems in December. Furthermore, in that 12 percent of km 0 there are many electric cars, registered by dealers precisely to achieve end-of-year bonuses. So, in fact, the Italian car market is deteriorating. And the dealers are the ones who pay the most serious consequences. However, to answer your question, I can say that this situation will lead to a huge market crash in January.”

But is there anything positive?
“Only the fact that this collapse could be compensated or – better said – mitigated by the fact that many customers want cars registered in the new year. So in January some cars actually sold in December will be counted. But it won't be enough, the drop in sales, as I was saying, will be enormous.”