Car trade under pressure

Car trade under pressure

Günther Kerle, spokesman for the Austrian automobile importers, and Klaus Edelsbrunner, chairman of the Federal Vehicle Trade Committee in the WKO, spoke of a “decisive automotive year 2025” at a joint press conference with Statistics Austria on the occasion of the presentation of the automotive market figures for the past year. With new registrations above the 250,000 mark, the market has recovered somewhat compared to the previous year, but it is still a long way from pre-Corona levels. Statistics Austria and industry representatives unanimously stated that the number of purely battery-electric vehicles fell last year.

“This means we have already reached the automotive industry’s biggest challenge for 2025. In order to achieve the European CO2 fleet targets for 2025, the market share of purely electric vehicles must virtually double,” says Kerle. For many European manufacturers, the fleet limits set by European politicians for 2025 represent an almost impossible challenge and there is a risk of massive fines. There is no question that the future of cars in Europe will be electric, because all automobile manufacturers have already invested billions in electromobility. However, the last few years have shown that the time assumptions are too optimistic and the transformation would take longer than expected. “The necessary expansion of the infrastructure and the population itself also need more time to perceive electromobility as the mobility of the future,” said Kerle and Edelsbrunner in unison. The industry representatives would therefore like the new federal government to maintain the input tax deduction option and the benefit in kind for battery-operated electric company vehicles as well as to continue the purchase promotion of battery-operated electric vehicles for private customers. The expansion of the charging infrastructure and transparent billing systems are also on the wish list.

Kerle and Edelsbrunner agreed that a move away from the current subsidies would be tantamount to a rejection of e-mobility and would completely counteract the CO2 targets set by European politics. Edelsbrunner fears that car manufacturers will now dictate unrealistic sales quotas for electric vehicles to established dealers. In addition, new electric car models could be pushed onto the market with competitive prices and thus become cheaper than existing vehicles - an additional challenge for retailers. And finally, delivery times for cars running on fossil fuels could be massively extended. Günther Kerle: “Because only if every fourth new car sold in 2025 is an electric car can fines be avoided.”