The Crédit Agricole bank, present at the Paris Motor Show all this week, and engaged in the mobility solution offer, is preparing to sign a huge check. 1.2 billion euros, sorry. The amount covers the delivery of 10,000 hydrogen vehicles by the French manufacturer Hopium, including premium Machina sedans, whose concept car is on display at Porte de Versailles.
Crédit Agricole “is growing in electricity and batteries,” insists Stéphane Priami, Managing Director of Crédit Agricole Consumer Finance, a subsidiary dedicated to consumer credit. The bank is also a partner in France of Tesla, but the complementary choice here is that of hydrogen, with the so-called “fuel cell” technology. That is to say that thanks to hydrogen, the fuel cell generates electricity to power an electric motor, the only residue released being water vapour. “Alongside traditional batteries, we believe that hydrogen will have its place,” insists Stéphane Priami. You have to go both ways. »
Vehicles at 120,000 euros
The bank intends above all, in this way, to attract customers looking for green mobility solutions. At Crédit Agricole Consumer Finance, car financing now accounts for 40% of turnover. The establishment hopes to increase this share “to 50% by 2025”.
For Hopium, the signing of this agreement is obviously good news. “This is part of the French and European industrial renewal in the production of clean vehicles “, congratulates himself Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, the former minister in charge of transport, now chairman of the board of directors of Hopium. The Machina in question, a sedan that promises a range of 1,000 km, will however display a premium price of 120,000 euros. “But industrial models provide for a decrease in the cost of 3% to 5% per year for fuel cell vehicles”, promises Jean-Baptiste Djebbari. The Machina will be manufactured in Normandy from 2025 and the objective is to market it the same year.