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Cars as an economic factor: What the critics often forget
Car bashing is in vogue. But where would we be without cars? In any case, 15 billion euros poorer per year. But we would have almost 200,000 more unemployed people.
Cars as an economic factor: What the critics often forget
Rising fuel prices, higher NoVA, stricter emissions values, city toll models and fewer and fewer parking spaces. In politics, it's almost considered good form to rail against the evil air polluters, and in front of the IAA, environmentalists are theatrically throwing themselves into the deep end or abseiling from bridges. In short, the car as we know it – and love it – is in trouble.
This is now also bringing the other side into action – those institutions that represent the interests of drivers. The ÖAMTC calls for a fair design of the CO2 tax. The choice of means of transport is not a question of morality, but of the offer: All those who resort to cars in rural areas due to long journeys, for example to work, because of a lack of alternatives, should not be treated with a CO2 tax and the finger raised, they are behaving incorrectly, it says in a current press release. The club calls for the expansion of public transport infrastructure.
Drivers pay 15 billion euros in taxes
The association “My Car – Initiative to Promote Individual Mobility” also emphasizes that many people need cars and also points out that everyone benefits from them because drivers are one of the most important taxpayers. According to the association, the tax effects from the use of vehicles - from VAT and standard consumption tax when purchasing, to mineral oil and engine-related insurance taxes, to motorway tolls - add up (including trucks) to 14.5 billion euros.
The state earns almost 15 billion euros annually from road traffic. “That’s almost as much as the state spends on education as a whole, or almost exactly a third of pensions,” says Burkhard Ernst, chairman of the “Mein Auto” association. Anyone who wants to get rid of the cars must also be aware that this would no longer cover the financing of very important public areas.
"It's frightening the completely false distorted picture some people paint of the auto industry and drivers. This increasing car bashing is not only wrong, it also endangers hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in tax revenue," says Ernst. It was only at the beginning of July 2021 that the Industrial Science Institute (IWI) published a study on behalf of ARGE Automobile Zulieferindustrie that sheds light on the effect of the industry on the labor market and economic performance in Austria.
193,000 jobs depend on cars
And this study actually revealed interesting facts. Accordingly, 900 companies in this country are fully or partially active in the automotive supply industry and created a production value of around 25.2 billion euros in 2019, which in turn triggered overall economic effects of around 42.8 billion euros. “Every euro of added value generated by the automotive supply industry brings twice as much to the location and every job in this industry indirectly secures almost two additional jobs,” said the author of this study, Herwig Schneider, during its presentation.
In addition to the 81,700 directly employed in automotive supply, there are indirect effects, so that the industry secures around 193,000 jobs. According to Schneider, the automotive supply industry is “one of the central sources of inspiration for Austria as an industrial location.” Unfortunately, according to Burkhard Ernst from the “Mein Auto” association, it has almost become a fad to be against cars. Some critics would argue with baseless polemics and ignore the most important facts.
A recent survey by Unique Research for the news magazine “Profil” makes it clear that the critics of individual mobility do not speak for a majority of the population: It asked who could imagine giving up their own automobile completely - with a clear result for cars: 41 percent of Austrians can “not at all” imagine giving up their own car, and another 23 percent “probably not”. Even for young people (16-29 years old), a life without a car is “not at all” (32 percent) or “not at all” (24 percent) imaginable. And by the way, just six percent say that they have already given up using a car.
The chairman of the “My Car” association therefore calls for more consideration and cooperation instead of constant hostilities: “We must not divide our society, but must strive for coexistence so that everyone, whether traveling by car, bike or on foot, treats one another with respect and consideration,” emphasizes Ernst.