The French Minister of the Environment is proposing a new tax for heavy vehicles, which should motivate carmakers to reduce CO2.
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According to the French state news agency France 24, the local Minister of the Environment Barbara Pompili presented a new tax scheme, which should mainly affect SUVs. For vehicles weighing more than 1,800 kilograms, it requires taxation of EUR 10 for each additional kilogram.
„The weight taxation that we are proposing sends a clear and necessary message to take account of the environmental impact of heavy vehicles. The heavier the vehicle, the more material and energy it consumes, with more pollution,“Said Minister Pompili on Twitter.
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Taxation should be presented with a budget for 2021 and should not apply to electric cars. Most of the best-selling SUVs from the French carmakers Peugeot and Renault, which weigh less than 1,800 kilograms, should also be safe. However, taxation could mainly affect German premium SUV brands such as Mercedes-Benz, Audi or BMW.
This is not the first taxation by the French government on the car industry, which should reduce CO emissions2. Some models with the highest CO emissions2 because they can already face taxation of up to 20,000 euros. Even so, the decline in CO emissions2 in France has slowed in recent years, according to the British website AutoExpress.
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However, taxation of heavy vehicles, especially from the SUV segment, could be a response to a WWF (Worldwide Fund for Nature) report that SUVs were the second largest source of greenhouse gas growth in France between 2008 and 2018. The aerospace industry came first. However, it is worth mentioning that the SUV segment has grown significantly during that time – at the expense of other types of cars. And, of course, across Europe.
A source from the French government told the API agency that the new tax should motivate people to avoid large and heavy vehicles. At the same time, however, it should also motivate carmakers, who should think about the overall impact of their activities on the environment, not just emissions.
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