“We need a government of whatever political color it is, that asks itself without complexes what it has to do to rejuvenate the mobile fleet, the true pollutant of our cities.” The president of the federation of official dealers (Faconauto) was so emphatic,
Gerardo Perezat the beginning of an exercise that threatens to become lost, as it is an electoral appointment.
The reality is that Spain is far from the electrification sales that it needs to have to meet the goals that the Sánchez government has set for 2025. According to the forecasts of the national association of manufacturers, Anfac, in the next three years 99,139, 124,791 and 154,932 vehicles will be sold with the Zero label —electric and plug-in hybrids—, when
these figures should be, respectively, 190,000, 280,000 and 372,000.
In recharging infrastructure, homework is also undone. According to the president of Anfac,
Wayne Griffiths, “Spain should have 45,000 public chargers and it only has 16,500. In addition, 80% of these are not fast charging«. Looking ahead to 2025, this figure should be 91,000 to meet the objectives set out in the ‘Fit for 55’ program of the European Commission.
“It is sad to write off the year in January,” they say from Ganvam, “but the ability to maneuver in election years is very limited.” The other employers’ associations in the sector echo this sentiment, especially taking into account that one of the figures who has done the most for the automotive industry, the Minister of Industry,
maroto kingswill leave his portfolio in April to run for Mayor of Madrid.
For Anfac, “2023 is an essential year to consolidate sales and recover the figures of 1.2 million registrations”, something that the three organizations agree as the right number for Spain.
The Moves under magnifying glass
The main instrument to encourage demand for electric cars, the Moves Plan, will remain active during 2023, but its shortcomings have been pointed out by sectoral associations.
On the one hand, its slowness. The subsidies have taken up to a year to reach buyers, and, once received, they were computed as additional income to the rent, so the tax brackets went up in the personal income tax return. Modifying this, for Anfac, would be a simple solution that would increase the attractiveness of the aid.
«If the Moves were refined», affirms Gerardo Pérez, «
We calculate that it would go from a 4% quota to 8%, but we will not achieve anything until we start selling modern combustion cars, which can continue to circulate until 2050«. Subsidizing the sale of thermal engines is something that the candidates for the Government of PP and Vox have been openly in favor.
The Moves encourages the sale of models “that 80% of buyers cannot even consider”, according to Pérez, something that echoes
Raul Palacios, president of Ganvam. For his association, “an effective decarbonization policy involves guaranteeing access for all income to efficient mobility solutions, with plans that include the young used.” Combustion engines, new or used, Anfac has been silent. For the builders, the priority is to increase the share of electricity, and they presented a roadmap for the next three years that requires binding targets for charging points.
For the next Government, they ask that it take the example of the German executive of
Olaf Schölz, who summoned the German auto industry less than a month after being elected. In Spain, there is a dialogue mechanism between the Government, employers and unions in the sector, the Automotive Roundtable, which only had one meeting, in 2021, since its constitution a year earlier.
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