The French automotive sector is pursuing a plan to increase the sales of electric vehicles to fourfold by 2027. The strategy agreement is being timed with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the country. French President Emmanuel Macron has set an ambitious target for the country’s automakers: to jointly churn out two million electric or hybrid cars by the end of the decade to manufacture the same number being produced by their rival, China, which is the world’s leading electric vehicle producer.
Following a medium-term planning pact with government, the automobile sector plays a role by supporting an interim target to amplify the sale of electric cars to 800,000 by 2027, which is a more than 600,000 difference from 2022 figure of 200,000 sales as per the briefing by the finance ministry. Finally, the plan calls for getting more electric light utility vehicles sold, which will reach to 100,000 units per year by 2030 from 16,500 sold in 2022.
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French manufacturers are making frantic efforts to rollout e-vehicle versions across their lineups as the Chinese brands that jump started the EV business have been forging ahead. Furthermore, some changes in the government’s consumer incentive policy have gone in favor of European brand automobiles, thus reducing the odds of domestic car market.
The French Minister of Finances underlined the essential role of the development of French electric automotive sector both as a way to become energy independent and keep the place in the auto industry hierarchy. “To which type of country should we aspire: a country of producers or a country of consumers? We have made our choice, as we decided to become an important electric vehicle production nation,” Le Maire said during a press conference.
As per the officials from the finance department, the state has earmarked a staggering budget of €1.5 billion (USD 1.6 billion) for this year specifically to restock the auto industry and to make electric vehicles more palatable through various incentive schemes.
French market is one of the most dynamic in Europe in terms of the Electro mobility with almost 20% of new cars being electric ones but only a fraction of them, namely,12% are domestically manufactured. The agreement between the government and automotive industry provides the blueprint for the deployment of approximately 400,000 charging points by the year 2030 and as many 25,000 rapid charging stations set in place before the end of year 2027, with the locations centered on primary transportation routes and smaller urban centers.