Possible US/Europe Financing of CLQ Heating Up, page-2

French president Emmanuel Macron has announced France will seek to jump-start the local auto industry decimated by the Coronavirus pandemic with an €8 billion ($A13.2 billion) plan that includes a major boost for electric vehicles.

Speaking at a press event in northern France on the site of an auto parts factory, Macron said the French government wants France to take a leading role in the European EV market.

“We need a motivational goal: Make France Europe’s top producer of clean vehicles by bringing output to more than 1 million electric and hybrid cars per year over the next five years,” Macron was quoted as saying by Automotive News Europe.

The multi-billion dollar plan will include raising France’s electric vehicle subsidy from €6,000 ($A9,910) to €7,000 ($A11,560) for private vehicle owners from June 1 to December 31, 2020.

Commercial fleets would be able to access a €5,000 ($A8,260) subsidy while plug-in hybrid vehicles would attract a €2,000 ($A3,300) subsidy if they have an all-electric range of at least 50km and do not cost more than €50,000 ( ($A82,600).

The subsidies would be available for the first 200,000 vehicles bought under the scheme.