“The vicious circle of ‘SUVization’ of the automobile fleet must stop,” urges the Foundation for Nature and Man

“The competitiveness gap between French vehicles and Chinese vehicles is around 6%“, assures France Culture the director of programs and advocacy of the Foundation for Nature and Man (FNH), Thomas Uthayakumar, who carried out a study on the competitiveness differential in the cheap car niche, while The 90th Paris Motor Show opens this Monday.

Thus, according to the work of the Foundation for Nature and Man, France could be competitive in the production of electric city cars. The competitiveness gap for a small car produced in France”is rather around 2 to 3% compared to Spanish or Slovak vehicles“, specifies the FNH. Concerning China, the competitiveness gap with France amounts to 6%, but this can be compensated by the establishment of customs duties or by the establishment of a ecological bonus linked to a limited carbon footprint, as is the case in France.

“The first lever is the ecological bonus, this would allow low-income households to be able to buy a small electric vehicle, since it is towards small vehicles that we must move“, he explained. “The vicious cycle of ‘SUVization’ of the vehicle fleet must stop“, he added.

“The second lever is also customs duties since, today, the European Union has decided to increase customs duties on imported Chinese vehicles.“EU member countries indeed confirmed, during a vote at the beginning of October, the imposition of customs duties on electric cars imported from China, despite opposition from the Germans who fear a trade war with Beijing. “We will also have to extend these customs duties to equipment and also to batteries“, advocates the environmental institution, campaigning for a tax”up to 10%“.