Germany: Renaults is away for Free

Shafaq news/ Shoppers have swarmed virtual showrooms in Germany and France -- the region’s two largest passenger-car markets -- after their national governments boosted electric-vehicle incentives to stimulate demand. Their purchase subsidies are now among the most favorable in the world, according to Bloomberg.

The state support is allowing Autohaus Koenig, a dealership chain with more than 50 locations across Germany, to advertise a lease for the battery-powered Renault Zoe that is entirely covered by subsidies. In the 20 days since it put the offer online, roughly 3,000 people have inquired and about 300 have signed contracts.

“If we had more sales staff, we would have sold even more,” said Wolfgang Huber, head of electric-car sales for the dealer in Berlin, who published a Facebook post asking customers to be patient. “We did expect an increase in sales with the subsidies, but this run really struck us.”

In France, sales of Renault’s Zoe model are on track to double this year even as demand for gasoline vehicles has cratered. And in the Netherlands, where the city of Amsterdam is banning non-electric cars from 2030, a 10 million-euro ($11.4 million) fund to support EV purchases was used up in just eight days this month.

In Germany, Carfellows took down a similar offer for the Smart model in June after about 1,000 customers reached out within three days and the automaker couldn’t supply cars fast enough, Rainer Westdoerp, a spokesman for the Berlin-based startup  said.

While the best deals -- including Carfellows’s Smart offering -- are usually for buyers of company cars because of perks including tax and risk rebates, private drivers in Germany can still lease an electric car from the site for as little as 39 euros a month. In France, where the government raised subsidies to 7,000 euros per car this year, customers can lease the Zoe from 79 euros a month.