There is a lot of curiosity around car incentives in 2024 to understand if, how, and, above all, when they will be adjusted. We remind you that Legislative Decree No. 17/2022 allocated 700 million euros for 2022 and 1 billion euros for each of the years 2023 to 2030 to support the ecological transformation of the automotive industry, and a large part of the funds is used for financing the purchase of ecological vehicles. So there will be incentives this year too, no doubt. But will they be the same as in 2022 and 2023? There is more uncertainty here, as the government has repeatedly expressed its intention to adjust the Ecobonus scheme in light of the low demand for allowances for electric and plug-in cars. In fact, according to the latest statements by the Minister of Trade and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, the incentives for 2024 will change radically, bringing discounts up to 13,750 euros and greater involvement of endothermic cars. However, it will be necessary to wait at least another month for new contributions to be posted.
Updated January 3, 2024, with the latest news on car incentives for 2024 and a possible start date for bookings.
OLD CAR UTILITY PROGRAM
First, we summarize the incentive program for cars, motorcycles, and commercial vehicles valid in 2023, including the available resources and the amount of discounts.
- 190 million euros for the purchase of electric cars (range 0–20 g/km CO2);
- 235 million euros for the purchase of plug-in hybrid cars (range 21–60 g/km CO2);
- 150 million euros for the purchase of ICE cars, i.e. petrol, diesel, etc. (range 61–135 g/km CO2);
- 15 million euros for the purchase of electric utility vehicles N1 and N2;
- 35 million euros for the purchase of electric motorcycles and mopeds;
- 5 million euros for the purchase of ICE motorcycles and mopeds.
5% of the amounts for electric cars (9 million and 500 thousand euros) and plug-in hybrids (11 million and 750 thousand euros) were reserved for purchases by legal entities for car sharing or activity car rental for commercial purposes.
As regards the amount of contributions for cars, they ranged from at least 2,000 to a maximum of 5 thousand euros for motorcycles from 2,500 to 4,000 euros, and for commercial vehicles from 4,000 to 14,000 euros.
As of December 31, the last day for applications, only endothermic cars (range 61–135 g/km CO2) and ICE motorcycles and mopeds have been used up on the Ecobonus website. Instead, they have expanded much of the resources for electric and plug-in hybrid cars and electric commercial vehicles. The same thing happened in 2022, so with the two tracks starting to prove it, it seems clear that the funds allocated to cars in the 0–20 and 21–60 g/km CO2 ranges are disproportionate.
CAR INCENTIVES 2024: WILL THERE BE ANY NEWS?
It seems that the government also thinks the same way, which has repeatedly expressed its intention about the year 2024 to demodulate the incentive system with higher-priority ICE cars, i.e., those with petrol, diesel, LPG, methane, and plug-in hybrid engines. But how will someone say that ecological contributions should not have been used to rebuild the fleet with zero or low environmental impact? The answer is yes and will remain so for the next few years. However, the will of the executive is to move towards a slower transition, which in the short term will support the urgent replacement of highly polluting vehicles that still drive on our roads (those with emission classes up to Euro 4) with vehicles of the latest generation, Euro 6, regardless of the type of power supply.
The reason is simple: given the numbers in hand, Italians are not yet ready to switch to electric cars massively, not even with incentives. We are still trying to rejuvenate the fleet and improve the environmental impact support for scrapping very old cars and putting factory new cars into circulation, which guarantee much higher tolerable emission levels even when powered by petrol or diesel.
Car Incentives 2024: PAYMENT SCHEME (AND WHEN TO START)
In an interview with Il Sole 24 Ore on December 20, 2023, Minister Urso confirmed the government’s intention to adjust three-year scheme incentives defined by the Prime Minister’s Decree of April 6, 2022, then amended by subsequent provisions that introduce a new Prime Minister’s Decree to be prepared at the beginning February 2024, after a presentation to representatives of the automotive supply chain. These are the main innovations that Urso expects:
- the cap for 2024 fell just below 1 billion euros and to the expected 610 million, another 320 advances were added in 2022 and 2023;
- incentive cap brought to 13.75 euros against the present 5,000;
- more resources to ICE cars (gasoline, diesel, LPG, methane, full and mild-hybrid) Euro 6 and for vehicles manufactured in Italy;
- bigger discounts for families with ISEE below 30,000 euros and for those who discard older cars (0, 1, and 2 euros);
- reopening in legal companies, including car sharing and rental car companies already included;
- doubling incentives for Taxi AND NCC as set out in the Property Ordinance;
- experimental launch of a social leasing formula modeled after the French model.
Based on these views, the scheme of car incentives 2024limited to cars, it should be like this:
- emission range 0-20 g/km (electric cars):
6,000 euros (without scrapping fee)
7,500 (without scrapping fee and with ISEE less than 30,000 euros)
9,000 euros (excluding Euro 4 vehicles)
10,000 euros (excluding Euro 3 vehicles)
11,000 euros (excluding Euro 0-1-2 vehicles)
11,250 euros (with scrapping of Euro 4 and ISEE vehicles under 30,000 euros)
12,500 euros (with scrapping of Euro 3 and ISEE vehicles under 30,000 euros)
13,750 euros (with scrapping of Euro 0-1-2 and ISEE vehicles under 30,000 euros).
The maximum spending limit was set at 35,000 euros + VAT.
- emissions range 21-60 g/km (plug-in hybrid cars):
4,000 euros (without scrapping fee)
5,000 (without scrapping fee and with ISEE less than 30,000 euros)
5,500 euros (excluding Euro 4 vehicles)
6,000 euros (excluding Euro 3 vehicles)
6,875 euros (with scrapping of Euro 4 and ISEE vehicles under 30,000 euros)
7,500 euros (with scrapping of Euro 3 and ISEE vehicles under 30,000 euros)
8,000 euros (excluding Euro 0-1-2 vehicles)
10,000 euros (with scrapping of Euro 0-1-2 and ISEE vehicles under 30,000 euros).
The maximum spending ceiling was set at 45,000 euros + VAT.
- emission range of 61–135 g/km (Euro 6 combustion vehicles):
1,500 euros (excluding Euro 4 vehicles)
2,000 euros (excluding Euro 3 vehicles)
3,000 euros (excluding Euro 0-1-2 vehicles).
Only for natural persons. The maximum spending limit was set at 35,000 euros plus VAT.
To start applications, however, it will be necessary to wait for the definition of the decree of the Prime Minister with an outline of new incentives for 2024, which will also have to determine the funds for each emission band. But it will take some time, so those who went to the dealership in early January hoping to have access to the new posts were disappointed. At the moment, we find ourselves in a kind of “limbo,” where previous incentives have already ended (as can be seen from the situation of residual funds on the Ecobonus platform) and new ones have not yet been defined.
In this context, on January 2, 2023, Minister Urso officially announced that he had convened a meeting at the Ministry of Trade and Made in Italy Automotive Table plenary session, which will be held on Thursday, February 1, 2024. During the meeting, which will be attended by the main representatives of companies in the given sector and organizations in the supply chain, a new 2024 incentive plan for the automotive industry will be presented. The incentives are therefore likely to start in early February 2024.
The pillar of the plan will be to modernize the vehicle fleet, support lower incomes, and restart vehicle production in Italy. In addition, as already expected, the doubling of taxi and NCC incentives and the experimental launch of the formula for social leasing (or, more correctly, social long-term rental).
