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State of emergency. This is how the car brands and companies in the sector are contacted by Razão Automóvel. In a year in which the sector’s turnover losses exceed 35%, the expectations were to support an industry that employs more than 150 thousand people in Portugal and represents 21% of the State’s tax revenue, but what results of the State Budget for 2021 is quite different.
In addition to the lack of support, the companies and associations affected consider that the PAN proposal, approved by the PS and the Left Bloc, to limit tax incentives to hybrid and plug-in hybrids, is penalizing the country in terms of economic and environmental.
Unexpected change of plans
Less than a month and a half before the end of the year, when all annual plans are already closed, companies in the automotive sector are now forced to review everything.
Orders, sales, investments and the stock of vehicles are being affected by the proposal presented by the PAN party – Animal People and Nature, and approved by the PS – Socialist Party and Bloco de Esquerda.
An amendment that caught the secretary general of ACAP (Portuguese Automobile Trade Association) by surprise, Hélder Barata Pedro, where it is indicated that the Association was not heard during this process.
The most critical criticisms of this decision end up appearing through the voice of the National Association of Automotive Branches (ARAN). This association considers the PAN proposal “fundamentalist” and does not understand the government’s position. “This is a bad budget for the sector, which was terrible to guarantee its approval. This is a measure that seems to prefer an older and more polluting car park. The Government is destroying a sector to guarantee votes of support in the State Budgets for 2021 ″, said Rodrigo Ferreira da Silva, president of ARAN.
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The same official adds: “This is a setback in the environmental goals established by the Government. The approval of this proposal represents several steps backwards in the government’s strategy, with a very negative impact on the automotive sector ”.
Portugal in countercycling with Europe
One of the measures the absence of which ACAP regrets most is the incentives for scrapping vehicles for scrapping, a measure in force in Spain, France and Italy since June.
According to Hélder Pedro, secretary general of ACAP, this measure would represent “an opportunity not only for the automotive sector, but also for the Government”, reinforcing that “with this measure, it would be possible, for example, to reduce breakages above 270 million euros that the executive estimates only in ISV ”.
We recall that a recent study, published by the Association of European Automobile Manufacturers (ACEA), concluded that in Portugal, Car-related taxes represented more than 9.6 billion euros of tax revenue in 2019 alone. The equivalent of 21% of the total tax collection of the State.
On the ARAN side, the arguments are not limited to the economic component. “This proposal is mortgaging the environmental footprint, since the national park is very old and with the incentive to purchase hybrid vehicles, an investment in more environmentally friendly vehicles is being promoted. Not to mention the increased risk of accidents, as older vehicles are less safe. However, this proposal contradicts all the investment that was being made at this level. The importance of hybrid cars in reducing pollution in urban centers is overlooked, that is, in the “start-up” periods during peak hours, with emission of pollution, which is very harmful to pedestrians ” Rodrigo Ferreira da Silva defends.
According to 2019 figures, the national car park has an average age of approximately 13 years, a value higher than the European average of 11 years.
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