Bad news for motorists: this important aid will disappear in 2025

Several million motorists are affected by the removal of this financial aid in 2025.

Buying a recent, low-polluting car is something every French person dreams of. The problem: 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 scrappage bonus, should in fact be sacrificed by the Barnier government embarked on a huge economy plan. If the ecological bonus – probably less favorable (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.

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This is very bad news for many households since nearly 15 million French people could be impacted by the elimination of this device. In 2024, the conversion bonus still allows you to benefit from a discount of up to 5,000 euros for the most modest households. This significant financial aid has made it possible for almost ten years to renew the vehicle fleet by injecting more ecological vehicles into the circuit which gradually replaced small the most polluting (Crit'Air category 3 and above).

This decision risks further slowing down motorists who were considering changing 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 had programmed to get rid of it soon, it is probably 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.