Several million motorists will be affected by the removal of this financial aid in 2025.Buying a recent, low-polluting car is a dream of all French people. The problem is that the high cost of clean vehicles – electric or hybrid – discourages many motorists who cannot afford to spend tens of thousands of euros on a new vehicle. To help them and encourage them to drive greener, the government set up a financial aid scheme which, since 2015, has enabled millions of French people to change their car. Unfortunately, according to information from BFM Business, this incentive will disappear in 2025.
Although reduced over the years, the conversion bonus, formerly called the scrap page bonus, should indeed be sacrificed by the Barnier government, which is embarking on a huge savings plan. While the ecological bonus – probably less favourable (from 4,000 to 3,000 euros) – and social leasing will probably be retained next year, the aid for the purchase of a clean vehicle, new or used, in exchange for an old polluting car will simply disappear.
This decision is likely to further slow down motorists who are planning to change their car soon. Whether it is for a new electric or hybrid vehicle, often purchased for more than 20,000 euros, or a used one, sold much cheaper even for those that emit relatively little CO2, the bill will be steep. For owners of old vehicles who have planned to get rid of them soon, this is probably the time to speed up the process. There is one and a half months left, until December 31, 2024, to benefit from the conversion bonus. After that, it will be too late.