ARAN is outraged by the limitation of tax incentives to hybrid vehicles proposed by the PAN – Animal People and Nature party. And it warns of the strong damage it will cause in the automobile sector. A sector that in Portugal represents 8% of GDP.
“This is a bad budget for the sector that 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 secure votes of support in the State Budget for 2021″, says Rodrigo Ferreira da Silva, president of ARAN.
The same person in charge adds “This is a setback in the environmental goals established by the Government. The approval of this proposal is several steps backwards in the Government's strategy, with a very negative impact on the automobile sector”.
ARAN thus comes to contest the proposal approved by the PS, Left Bloc and PAN in Parliament, which could cut one of the few support that existed for the automobile sector.
Older, more polluting and less safe cars
But the association's arguments are not just economic. “This proposal is jeopardizing the environmental footprint, as the national car fleet is very old and with the incentive to purchase hybrid vehicles, an investment in more environmentally friendly vehicles was being promoted. Not to mention the greater risk of accidents, as older vehicles are less safe. Now, this proposal goes against all the investment that was being made at this level. The importance of hybrid cars in reducing pollution in city centers is being forgotten, namely in “start-up” periods during peak traffic hours, with pollution emission, very harmful for pedestrians” defends Rodrigo Ferreira da Silva .
For the various reasons explained, ARAN therefore calls for the withdrawal of this proposal, which, in line with the reduction of taxes on imported used vehicles, will accentuate the economic difficulties of the sector, as well as the aging of the car fleet, which has an average age of 12.7 years, the highest ever.
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