GOVERNMENT APPROVED MEASURES TO IMPROVE FLEET IN CZECH REPUBLIC
PRAGUE (CTK, Autofox) - Czech government on December 14 approved support for the purchase of cars with alternative drive within government and the possibility of introducing a contribution to dispose aged vehicles. The Ministry of Transport is to carry out an analysis in 2017 an analysis on how to change the pricing of vehicles in order to motivate motorists to buy new ecological cars and to eliminate wrecks, said the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MPO).
MPO, according to Minister Jan Mladek, agreed with the Ministry of Environment (MZP) to use funds from the State Environmental Fund (SFZP) to encourage the purchase of environmentally friendly vehicles, as well as for incentives to dispose of non-ecological cars. Due to a previous dispute between the two ministries the government did not discuss the issue in September 2016.
“The basic objective for the selection of tools for fleet renewal in the Czech Republic should be the motivation of citizens and institutions to eliminate old vehicles, to ecological behaviour, personal safety and energy savings,” said Mladek. He did not state the specific amounts of the various programs. However, the state, according to him, does not allow for the expansion of the environmental fee for the registration of non-ecological cars to Euro 3 emission standard, as proposed by the automobile associations. At present, the valid limits are Euro 2 and lower.
The government expects to renew the fleet of public administration for alternative fuel vehicles with lower emissions in 2017 and has also established an obligatory share of alternative fuel vehicles in public procurement for the purchase of new cars and light commercial vehicles in the state administration to 25% by the end of 2020 and to 50% by the end of 2030.
The approved material (Draft Measure to improve the structure of the vehicle fleet in the Czech Republic) also includes the introduction of bonuses and maluses in car registrations. Motorists will thus have an incentive for the purchase of vehicles with low greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, the bonus could improve upon presentation of proof of ecological disposal of an old vehicle. Another measure is the introduction of low emission zones in city centres, where only the cars meeting emission limits will be allowed to access.
“The goal is a conceptual long-term solution to the renewal of the fleet. Our associations do not want to increase the sales, new cars are selling well, but we are concerned about the total cultivation of the area in the Czech Republic in which we live,” said the director of the Automotive Industry Association (AutoSAP), Zdenek Petzl. According to the Secretary of the Car Importers Association (SDA) Josef Pokorny, the Czech Republic lags in fleet renewal behind Western Europe. He recalled that more than half of the imported used cars are older than 10 years.
According to SDA, the number of passenger cars in the vehicle registry during H1 2016 increased by 116,000 to 5.275 million units. Compared to the end of 2015, the age of the vehicles also grew from 14.3 to 14.9 years. There are over 7.1 million motor vehicles with an average age of 17.3 years in the Czech Republic.
