France is preparing to give subsidies to encourage purchases of electric vehicle to shore up automakers stung by the coronavirus crisis. — AFP file pic
“I will announce a plan within two weeks... to relaunch car buying as well as the industry’s transition to a more sustainable model,” Le Maire told France Info radio. French automakers Renault and PSA, whose brands include Peugeot, Citroen and Opel, are reeling from factory and dealership closures that sent French auto sales plunging 89 per cent in April from the year earlier.
The French state is already preparing a five-billion-euro emergency loan for Renault, which has announced a plan to cut spending by two billion euros that could include site closures and the phase-out of several older models.