The federal government wants to create much better conditions for e-mobility – specifically through tax relief for electric cars. These are to be discussed in the cabinet tomorrow. VW’s savings plans are also likely to be discussed.
The cabinet wants to discuss planned new tax breaks for electric cars on Wednesday. This was said by circles in the Federal Ministry of Economics, headed by Robert Habeck. The Green politician had brought the instrument into play in view of the sluggish sales of electric cars in Germany. The tax breaks are part of the so-called growth initiative, said Habeck.
The automotive industry is a “cornerstone of Germany as an industrial location,” said Habeck – “and it should stay that way.” The major automobile manufacturers and their suppliers are good employers for tens of thousands of employees, engines of prosperity and drivers of innovation.
Regarding the situation at Germany’s largest car manufacturer, Volkswagen, the Economics Minister said that “business decisions such as those currently on the table” must be “made in the spirit of this responsibility.” He called on VW to make decisions in close coordination with the social partners.
Keep up with the international Competition
The core brand VW announced a tougher austerity plan on Monday after a management meeting and no longer ruled out plant closures and redundancies. CEO Oliver Blume cited the difficult situation on the European car market and the deteriorating competitiveness of German production sites as reasons.
Habeck said that the transformation efforts for the automotive industry are “currently enormous”. German car manufacturers have to keep up with global competition. “Long-term planning security is also a decisive location factor” – as created by the EU requirement that only CO2-neutral vehicles may be newly registered from 2035.
Those who advocate the withdrawal, such as Friedrich Merz (CDU) and Markus Söder (CSU), “are squandering reliability and showing that they have little understanding of sustainability,” criticized Habeck.
“The only one who is happy is China”
A zigzag course is poison and is already leading to massive uncertainty when it comes to investments in the value chain. “The only one who will be happy is China, which is continuing to expand its technological development.” The federal government has massively promoted e-mobility for many years. “We will continue to support the transformation with measures on the demand and supply side,” said Habeck.
New registrations for electric cars in Germany have been declining for months – in July, almost 30,100 electric cars were newly registered, over a third less than in the same month last year. The market share of pure electric cars was thus just under 13 percent.
One reason is that public subsidies for electric car purchases expired last year. Another reason is the high prices. The fact that politicians are calling for a move away from the end of combustion engines in 2035 is causing additional uncertainty among consumers.