Automotive innovations 2025

Automotive innovations 2025

In principle, the mobility club advises all car buyers to pay even more attention to low CO2 emissions and thus low consumption due to current and planned taxation. This is good for the environment and your wallet. With the turn of the year there will be a further increase in national CO2 pricing from 45 to 55 euros per ton of CO2. At the pumps, this means an increase of around three cents for consumers. Overall, the national CO2 pricing in 2025, including sales tax, will be responsible for 15 cents of the price at the pump for gasoline and 16.5 cents for diesel. Due to the higher CO2 content per liter, the CO2 price for diesel is higher. From the introduction of CO2 pricing in October 2022 up to and including November 2024, diesel was on average more expensive than petrol for around 18 months. Without the CO2 price it would have been around two months less.

When it was introduced, the regional climate bonus was intended to compensate for CO2 pricing. Due to the tight budget situation, the climate bonus could be reduced – or even abolished – in 2025. “Without the regional climate bonus, CO2 pricing would be nothing more than a mineral oil tax increase, the revenue from which flows into the general budget,” points out Martin Grasslober, transport economics expert at the ÖAMTC. A further cost increase is to be expected for the motor-related insurance tax, which is due with the liability premium. For almost all cars registered for the first time from January 1, 2025, this will be around 35 euros (34.56 euros) per year higher than if they were first registered in 2024. Only very efficient or low-performance cars will see a lower or no tax increase. As usual, electric cars are completely exempt from motor-related insurance tax. Important: Nothing changes for vehicles that have already been registered. In order to avoid any unpleasant surprises, the ÖAMTC recommends clarifying how much the motor-related insurance tax will cost for the vehicle you want before buying a car (new or used).

The NoVA, which has to be paid once, increases at the turn of the year for many new vehicles, but for many nothing changes. Due to the calculation methodology, efficient but also particularly fuel-intensive vehicles will be affected equally in the coming year. The decisive factor is the single gram of CO2 that is recorded in the vehicle documents. For individual hybrid models, the majority of plug-in hybrids and all electric cars, you will not pay any NoVA in 2025 due to the low or completely non-existent CO2 emissions on the road. A transitional regulation also applies this year: Anyone who has concluded an irrevocable written purchase contract for a new vehicle subject to NoVA by December 1, 2024 will still pay the lower NoVA according to the values ​​from 2024, provided the vehicle is delivered by April 1, 2025. There is also a tightening of benefits in kind for the private use of company vehicles: Anyone who also uses a company vehicle privately must pay taxes for it. If the CO2 emissions exceed a certain limit according to the documents, tax must generally be paid on two percent of the acquisition costs per month instead of 1.5 percent. For company vehicles that will be registered for the first time in 2025, the previous CO2 limit will be reduced to 126 grams per kilometer. For vehicles that were previously registered for the first time, the respective limit value applies at the time of initial registration. There is still no benefit in kind for electric vehicles. Next year, 35.889 cents per kilowatt hour can be reimbursed tax-free by the employer for charging the e-company car at home.

In 2024, the ECJ ruled that vehicle manufacturers may not restrict access to OBD vehicle diagnostics for independent workshops. The EU Commission will publish new regulations in 2025 that regulate this accessibility. It remains to be seen whether the decision will be in favor of the vehicle manufacturers or in favor of consumers. The ÖAMTC has already made a massive commitment to this and will continue to mobilize all its strengths to ensure fair competition between automobile manufacturers and service providers and thus ensure consumers' freedom of choice. The §57a assessment should also be reformed. Since the current requirements of an EU directive date from 2014, the EU Commission is planning an update that will address current technologies such as electromobility and assistance systems.

As of January 1, 2025, the official mileage allowance will be increased to 50 cents. From then on, the new mileage allowance rate will apply regardless of whether you use a car (previously 42 cents) or a motorcycle/motorcycle (previously 24 cents). In addition, the amount for passengers will also increase: previously it was 5 cents, but from the new year it will be 15 cents. If the distance is more than one kilometer, the 50 cents also apply to the use of a bicycle (previously 38 cents for more than two kilometers). In principle, the costs of commuting to work are offset against the transport tax deduction for income tax. This amount will increase to 487 euros in 2025 and will usually be automatically taken into account by the employer for employees. As far as lower incomes are concerned, the following applies: the already higher traffic tax credit and the surcharge on the traffic tax credit will also be increased by five percent.