Features
6 May 20

Fleet ‘purchase and lease incentives’ needed to kickstart automotive industry

Not only Europe’s four major automotive representative organisations have called on EU and national decision makers to provide purchase and lease incentives in order to stimulate fleet demand for new vehicles.

Also the Fleet & Mobility community asks for governmental support to help the industry recover and get back to normal. According to the latest COVID-19 Survey of Fleet Europe in which 600 international fleet decision makers participated, 53% of the corporate buyers and 64% of the supplier industry believe governments should give support to the automotive and fleet industry. You can donwload the results of the COVID-19 Survey here

The suggestion of the four automotive associations ACEA, CLEPA, CECRA and ETRMA,  is one of 25 key actions proposed by the full automotive supply chain, from vehicle manufacturers to equipment and tyre suppliers, dealers and workshops to restart the industry after COVID-19.

Fleet renewal scheme

The automotive associations said: “Specifically, with regards to private vehicle fleet operators, the Commission and European Investment Bank should consider extending their Cleaner Transport Facility to enable private fleet operators to renew their fleets.”

Diesel vehicles should be included

The action plan calls for financial incentives to purchase any vehicle (including diesel) that meets the current regulatory safety and environmental criteria, such as Euro 6d temp/ Euro VI-D. While they argue that incentives should not be limited to any specific vehicle class or technology, they do suggest that any financial inducements could be differentiated progressively according to CO2 emissions.

Public sector fleets

The four organisations also call on national governments to use procurement for public sector fleets as a way to revitalise sales and boost the environmental and safety performance of all vehicles. They also say that EU state aid rules should be revised to allow government support for investment in fleet renewal by businesses that provide vital public services.

EV infrastructure

The end of the coronavirus lockdown is also the right time for the EU and national governments to invest in the infrastructure required to support electric vehicles, as Europe moves towards a carbon-neutral future, said the ACEA, CECRA, CLEPA and ETRMA. Together, they called for: “The immediate start of the pilot initiative on “1 million charging points and refuelling stations across the EU for all vehicle types”, including high-power charging and hydrogen refuelling stations for heavy-duty vehicles.”

The automotive industry has been particularly hard hit by the coronavirus lockdown, and the representative bodies say that a stimulus package will boost the wider economy, given that 13.8 million Europeans work in the automotive industry, accounting for 6.1% of all EU jobs.

Eric-Mark Huitema, Director General of ACEA, the automobile manufacturers’ association states: “It is now crucial to bring the entire automotive value chain back into motion. We need a coordinated relaunch of industrial and retail activity, with maintained liquidity for businesses. Targeted measures will need to be taken to trigger demand and investment. Demand stimulus will boost the utilisation of our manufacturing capacity, safeguarding jobs and investments.”

If you would like to find out how the international Fleet & Mobility community is evaluating the impact of the Coronavirus crisis, please check out the full results of our latest COVID-19 Survey.  Click on the link below, to find out:

  • If the perception on job security has changed?
  • The short and long term impact on buyers fleet strategy?
  • If supplier change is to be expected?
  • How the crisis will influence the use of public transport?

Check out the full results of the survey here.

Authored by: Jonathan Manning