ACEA

Fleet Renewal Schemes for Commercial Vehicles

Fleet renewal schemes have proved to be effective for passenger cars and may be workable for commercial vehicles as well

• During the crisis, although vehicle demand will stay low as long as demand for transport does
• To spur vehicle demand as soon as signs are imminent that the crisis is ending

Vehicle renewal and replacement schemes can include both incentives to buy new vehicles and penalties on the use of old vehicles (pre-Euro III)

• Through tax breaks or vehicle tax differentiation on the basis of emission classes
• Systems must be simple and effective

The European Commission should investigate if and how fleet renewal schemes could be financed through EU funds

Public procurement of urban vehicles (buses, garbage trucks) plays a significant role as well

• National implementation (by the end 2010 at the latest) of the EC Directive on the ‘promotion of clean and energy efficient road transport vehicles’ will oblige public authorities to take environmental operational lifetime costs of vehicles into account
• This can be an opportunity to promote particularly eco-friendly vehicles
• The European Investment Bank is developing a ‘Clean Bus Framework Finance Facility’ (CFFF) aimed at providing long term financing to municipalities and other local administrations, in order to accelerate the replacement of existing bus fleets with more fuel efficient ones. This scheme could be extended to other vehicle types, too.
• An initial €15 million is foreseen to assist cities in developing projects, but actual financing could be much higher

Advantages

• Fleet replacement measures underpin vehicle demand
• Allowing the CV industry to earn the necessary revenues to sustain investments in new technologies
• More jobs are maintained in production facilities, component manufacturing and dealerships
• Social welfare expenditure (unemployment benefits, job search assistance, retraining) decreases
• The environmental impact of the vehicle fleet decreases
• Latest Euro V models produce around a tenth of the pollutant emissions of a 1980s equivalent
• Truck NOx emissions have been cut by 86% compared to levels in the 1990s
• Particulate emissions are down by 95%
• In Europe, the result has been an overall 35% reduction in exhaust emissions, despite a 30% increase in ‘work done’ or freight transport measured in tonnekilometres (Source: TREMOVE V 2.7b)
• Modern vehicles also produce less noise
• The vehicle fleet becomes safer
• Better equipment such as ABS, EVSC, navigation systems, blind spot mirrors and LDWS (Lane Departure Warning System)

last updated 04/09/2009

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