2023-11-21 13:00:02
Last year, a measure grabbed the headlines in the world of electric cars: Emmanuel Macron, as part of his electoral promises, was studying establishing a “social rental” to allow access to electric mobility to families with fewer resources. In theory, it was possible to offer a zero emissions car with a monthly fee of 100 euros.
Although the French Government has not yet implemented this measure at the state level – it is studying doing so in 2024 –, it gave an idea to the French banks, whose renting divisions discovered that thanks to the incentives for purchasing an electric car in the country, yes , these conditions could be offered.
One of the architects at Crédit Agricole Sofinco is its director of the Mobility division, Vincent Carre. Before the Ganvam Expo was inaugurated, where he will give more details of the proposal, the executive gave an interview to ABC.
Is social renting already a reality in France?
Yes, but not state. In France there is a bill to build a social renting that starts at 100 euros per month. But this law is not finished and I think the government doesn’t know exactly what to do at the moment. Not to wait, we have done a social renting from Crédit Agricole Sofinco with electric cars. We use all the Government incentives for electric cars: the scrapping of a diesel car and the subsidy. When the two are added, we get a very competitive quota, but it is necessary to do it over a long duration, like seven years. If you do not have an old diesel to replace, the fee would be around 130 euros per month, which is also acceptable.
The director of Mobility Services at Crédit Agricole Consumer Finance, Vincent Carré. CACF
What kind of cars are offered with these conditions?
We are using it with the Dacia Spring, which is a small car with 250 kilometers of autonomy. We want to limit ourselves only to Chinese cars, because it seems important to us to participate in the ecological transition. We can only offer it with cars made in China – although the Spring is from the Renault Group, it is produced there –, like the MG4, which is another great car.
What the French Government wants to do is increase the aid available for cars made in Europe, taxing them based on the CO2 involved in their manufacturing and transportation. If the price of the models is reduced in this way, we could include the C segment in the social renting and it would be much better. In theory, it will be known in December how this measure will be articulated.
How long has this renting been in operation and what acceptance is it having?
We launched it on the market a year ago and, in our house, we only accumulated about 300 operations. We believe it has to do with the segment and the autonomy of the vehicles, given that if families opt for a single vehicle, they prefer slightly larger models.
What price should a car have for social renting to be profitable?
The cars have to have a price of between 15,000 and 17,000 euros, taking into account the incentives, for social renting to be profitable. Right now, the margins are very tight, because we have to offer very low interest rates, very low installments, dealers prefer to offer other financial products, because they do not make much money with this model.
Do you think this model can be extended to Spain?
Yes, the decision really is to determine how much they want to benefit that target audience. [familias con rentas bajas que necesiten acceder a un coche eléctrico] and the amount of money they spend on it. Now, in France, there are about 2,000 families that can benefit, but if they want a strong impact and help a million people scrap their old diesel, they should provide an additional 5,000 euros as an incentive per car. For such a model to work, it must be guaranteed that the price is interesting and that dealers make money.
Have the measures to encourage the sale of electric cars been effective?
The important thing is that there is enough money to lower the price to 17,000 euros. Only in this way can you do social renting with installments of 100 euros. You can play with VAT, make the subsidy higher… The idea of delivering old diesel is good, because in Europe everyone has an old diesel car.
It is important that long-term rentals with competitive prices can be accessed, because if not, people will not have the incentive to get rid of their thermal car. Furthermore, if the option is then given to buy the car with an interesting loan when the seven years are up, it will become popular. In France, electric cars are only accessed through renting, which has a share of 90% or more. Electric cars are not bought.
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