Regarding the planned motor vehicle tax reform: "End the debate – provide clarity”
VDA: Motor Vehicle Tax Reform Reduces Burden on Small and Medium-sized Vehicles, and Helps to Protect the Climate
Frankfurt am Main, January 23, 2009. "A clear focus on CO2 emissions and a reduced burden on small and medium-sized environmentally friendly vehicles are the central elements of the current draft of the motor vehicle tax reform. The draft thus presents a sensible strategy that will contribute overall to greater climate protection and additional momentum for the automotive business," explained Klaus Bräunig, Managing Director of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA). The new system focuses consistently on a vehicle's CO2 emissions, without posing disadvantages for certain model segments, Bräunig added. "Large and small vehicles are subject to the same requirements, and that ensures neutrality in terms of competitiveness, which is an important factor."
"We want the reform to have a clear effect for all vehicles types in question. That is the only way to achieve a rapid renewal of the vehicle fleet," said the VDA managing director. This would contribute not only to the hoped-for business momentum but also to reducing the CO2 emissions of the entire fleet. "The average age of the vehicles on the road in Germany is over 8.5 years. This high average age also leads to increased fuel consumption. If we could reduce the average age of the vehicles in use in Germany by one year, we would save 800 million liters of fuel annually. That corresponds to two million tons of CO2 per year," Bräunig said.
"We must move away from an ideological discussion of niche vehicles and concentrate on the essentials," Bräunig insisted. "Customers want clarity now. Without it they cannot reach decisions to make the purchases that can provide needed business momentum and thereby reduce the duration of the crisis. This is no time to be using the taxation of certain vehicle models to discredit an appropriate and long overdue modernization of the vehicle tax. What's more, to do so would reflect a cynical attitude to thousands of workers who are worried about job security."
The motor vehicle tax reform also is not a suitable means of radically restructuring the fundamentals of the tax system, added the VDA managing director. The linear tax increase also guarantees that every gram of CO2 is assigned an equal value. "Those whose cars emit more will pay more," explained Bräunig. "The tax reduction should apply to all fuel-efficient models. The tax savings are smaller for those who until now have paid less vehicle tax; vehicle owners who have paid more to date will enjoy larger reductions. This is in line with the general tax system and especially with the principle of fair taxation. The aim of the tax reform is to promote the use of fuel-efficient vehicles and the replacement of inefficient vehicles - regardless of whether they are compact cars, medium-sized vehicles or premium products. It is time to stop stigmatizing larger vehicles and to instead be proud of our fuel-efficient premium products, which are successful worldwide."