Why will the Dacia Spring be favored by the government again, while it remains manufactured in China?

An ecological bonus now conditional on a CO2 footprint for manufacturing and delivery – in addition to the traditional ceiling price rules –, a European tax on the import of electric vehicles from China, but not on Chinese cars made in Europe: never has automobile taxation been so complex. And if the dual initial objective of promoting “green” cars and protecting the European automobile industry remains laudable, It is clear that piling up measures could have a counterproductive effect. Especially in light of fairly significant changes for the French ecological bonus in 2025. Despite the political instability at the end of the year, the decree setting the rules for the bonus has already appeared in the Official Journal. Unsurprisingly, assistance for purchasing electric cars has been reduced. While it was €4,000 minimum in 2024, it will be €2,000 from January 1, 2025 if your reference tax income exceeds €26,200, which means the majority of electric car buyers.

A Dacia Spring all the better placed

As a direct consequence of this blow, the Dacia Spring, deprived of subsidies since this year due to its Chinese origin, could become a good deal again in 2025. It would obviously still not be entitled to the bonus, but the difference which separates from Europeans will once again grow for many buyers. Concretely, a Citroën ë-C3, sold for €23,300, was automatically priced at €19,300, barely €400 more than a much less competent Dacia Spring. A very small gap largely to the advantage of the Citroën. But in a few weeks, those few hundred euros will suddenly become thousands. For the majority of buyers, the Citroën ë-C3 will no longer be priced at €19,300 but at €21,300. The difference with the Spring will therefore be established most of the time at €2,400, in other words an effort that some buyers will not be able to make, especially with a view to exclusively urban use where the Spring, despite its weaknesses, ensures the essential. This could allow the little Romanian to regain its commercial health, which sank in 2024 on the French market.

In turn, this is good news for the Renault group, but we also reach the limits of the magic wand brought by France to its industry. Indirectly, the reduction in the ecological bonus will reinforce the Spring’s status as the cheapest electric car on the market.

By tightening the bolts on all sides so as not to have market shares “eaten” by Chinese production, France and more generally Europe are gaining time, but are nevertheless having a hard time fighting against the strength of manufacturers who manufacture in Asia: a production cost that is in any case lower than on the Old Continent, synonymous with better placed final sales prices. Not to mention the ability of some to cut even more on margins to establish themselves sustainably, like MG or Leapmotor, who are compensating at their own expense for the end of subsidies on their electric cars.