French Government To Raise Electric Car Subsidies - Report

PARIS--The French government is expected to announce later Wednesday a plan to support the country's automotive industry by expanding state-financed schemes to boost purchases of electric and low-carbon-emissions cars and introducing around 600 million euros of financing for investments, French business daily Les Echos reports, citing unspecific sources.

The government is to announce that the subsidy to buy an electric car will be increased to EUR7,000 from EUR5,000 initially while the subsidy to buy a low carbon emission car, such as a hybrid vehicle, will be increased by EUR100-EUR150, the newspaper also reports.

The French government, which is seeking to fight the decline of the country's automotive industry, which is plagued by low competitiveness and a challenging European economic environment, is also expected to announce that at least 25% of its own orders would be for electric or hybrid vehicles, a sector in which French car makers are well positioned.

Among other measures, the French state and the publicly owned bank for small and medium-sized companies Oseo will make EUR600 million available to automotive companies for investments and potential cash needs, Les Echos also reports.

Newspaper Web site: http://www.lesechos.fr

-Write to Geraldine Amiel at [e-mail]

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