The €4,000 Eco Bonus is Dead as of Today!

The Ecological Bonus is expected to decrease in the coming hours, not on January 1st as initially anticipated. A real blow.

The Ecological Bonus will undergo another cut, dropping from 4,000 euros to 3,000 euros without income restrictions, effective immediately by decree. Contrary to usual practice, this decision does not take effect at the beginning of the year but from the day it is enacted. Why? Simply to avoid the so-called windfall effect, which in recent years has led customers to rush to dealerships in December to buy next year’s models at a lower cost. There have also been cases where dealers mass-registered unsold vehicles to claim the Bonus and subsequently resell them as certified used cars, often with little or no mileage, offering a discount equivalent to the Bonus… all rather problematic. This measure will heavily impact consumers but also complicate the task for manufacturers, who were banking on a more lively end-of-year sales driven by this anticipated decrease. Well, too bad for everyone; it’s time to tighten our belts!

While purchase aid gradually decreases, they remain fortunately in place to support the transition to electric vehicles. This was not obvious, as pessimists argue that the Bonus is often benefits wealthier households—admittedly, since it is financed by all taxpayers—which is a contentious point. A Tesla, Renault, Nissan, or Mercedes costing 47,000 euros are already over-equipped luxury cars, so why should we help households that can afford to buy them?

The conversion premium for removing polluting vehicles is also expected to disappear, but the timeline is not yet very clear. This mechanism has been very successful, exceeding initial budgets significantly, prompting the government to rethink its priorities. In a context of budget restrictions, other measures, such as taxing infrastructure related to electric vehicles, could be introduced to offset the tax revenue lost from fuel taxes. This could further slow down the modernization of the vehicle fleet.

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