The Minister of Economic Development attended the opening of the Automotive Dealer Day. With the newly approved car incentives in his pocket, Giorgetti explained the logic. On the 180-day bond between the request for the bonus and the delivery of the car, he promises regulatory changes
From our correspondent Andrea Tartaglia
17 May 2022 | 15:42 (edited May 17, 2022 | 15:52)
– Verona
The world of the car meets again in the presence and does so in the frame of the Automotive Dealer Day in Verona the day after the entry into force of the new car incentives. In the opening panel, the one in which the trade associations reasoned about the moment, the problems and the opportunities facing the automotive sector, the guest of honor was the Minister of Economic Development Giancarlo Giorgetti, one of the supporters of the decree that introduced the new bonuses. The minister did not hide how the measure had a “long gestation” and how “it was not easy to draw attention to the auto sector”, but the one launched is a multi-year program that aims to support not only demand but also support an industrial sector considered strategic at national level: “Also in a geopolitical key”, Giorgetti commented. A provision, the one with which the incentives were launched, not exempt from critical issues such as that of the limit of 180 between the date of the contract and registration, under penalty of forfeiture of the bonus. A too narrow limit at a time when deliveries are greatly expanded due to a lack of components. “We will make an extension” said Giorgetti, agreeing on a problem that risks cutting off an important slice of customers.
giorgetti, reviewing the taxation on cars
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The key to interpreting the incentive scheme is twofold: on the one hand, it aims to support the sales of electric and plug-in hybrid cars, but does not exclude hybrid and thermal and low-emission cars as is the case in other European countries. “I am an advocate of technological neutrality” explains Giorgetti. The other qualifying element of the provision that has just been launched is the multi-annual nature: “We wanted to give certainties both on the demand and on the supply side”. On the second point, however, that of support for the industrial chain, a further decree will be required to be agreed with the Minister of the Economy Franco. Among the things that are missing in the support plan are the companies, voluntarily kept out of the audience of beneficiaries: “We have to renew that part of the pre-Euro 4 fleet which presumably is owned by low-income families, we must push this turnover to favor decarbonification “. Support for professionals and businesses could go through the much-needed revision of the corporate car taxation, bringing it into line with the European average, abolishing the exemption that Italy has been using for years. Allowing companies to deduct the VAT and deduct the costs of the vehicles would be a stimulus to change them more frequently, also supplying the second-hand goods channel with fresh product. But to do this, new resources must be found: “If we had also pushed in this direction, probably a large part of the allocation would have been absorbed”, explained the minister.
electric car: infrastructure for charging or becomes a luxury item
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The Veronese stage of the Dealer Day is also an opportunity for Giorgetti to have his say on the electric car, which needs a recharging network not only numerically extended, but also of high power to allow quick recharges and really compete with the engine. thermal in terms of usability. “It is necessary an intervention that passes through the Pnnr aimed at the infrastructure of the columns, otherwise the electric car becomes a luxury item for well-to-do families to use in the city”. With a view to redesigning the automotive industrial sector, the offer must also be stimulated and Giorgetti’s intervention includes the giagafactory that Stellantis is building in Termoli, capable of reabsorbing part of that workforce that will necessarily be reduced with the progressive reduction of the supply chain of the thermal car. “I see in other countries, for example in Germany, a very different sensitivity also on the part of the trade unions. Going ahead without considering the economic and social implications would cause a disaster ”.
raw materials, the geopolitical implications
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But it is not only national policy choices that catalyze the audience, the auto sector must also deal with European choices in terms of cutting emissions, choices that in addition to the scientific connotation are also of a political nature: “We all share concerns about the health of the planet, but the actions we take to protect it have repercussions on life and the real economy, from consumers to the various players in the supply chain. We must therefore understand what we mean by transition and apply it to both Italian and European industry ”. And in an international context that has never been so turbulent, Giorgetti raises a question that must be taken into account: “What does a transition of this type mean in geopolitical terms?” A question that not so implicitly implies that “secular” choices are needed, based on scientific evidence and therefore not ideological but which cannot determine a dependence on countries that hold a monopoly on raw materials, the combination between electric car and China is not certainly a mystery.
May 17, 2022 (change May 17, 2022 | 15:52)
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