As 2024 swings into action, several markets in the European region begin their annual taxation and vehicle price changes.

Switzerland has seen a VAT increase from last year’s 7.7% grow to an 8.1% charge, effective from the beginning of January. Overall, 2023 sales for the market also saw gains, a near 12% uplift on 2022 numbers.

Austria’s NoVa tax changes see a new minimum emissions threshold for these charges to commence, down from 102 g/km to 79 g/km.

Both Portuguese and Spanish markets have introduced new taxes, including an updated road tax for all vehicles in the former market, with the exception of BEVs. Norway’s first registration fee has also increased.

According to Mobility Sweden, new registrations of passenger cars in 2023 barely moved from 2022’s total at around a 0.5% increase. Additionally, the proportion of rechargeable passenger cars increased by only 4%. Forecasts for this year appear to be on the pessimistic side, with a sharp reduction in new registrations of passenger cars and the electrification rate expected to decrease. However, there is a small trend showing that prices on private leasing are reducing, which may in turn offer hope in light of forecast predictions.

Like Tesla’s decision in 2023 to slash pricing in a bid to boost sales, Chinese firm BYD has kicked off 2024 in the German market by substantially reducing retail pricing for the large majority of its ranges, by up to 15%. This comes as BEV pricing is under great pressure following the Government’s removal of the EV subsidy last year, however typically discounts are now being found in incentives form. As an example, Volkswagen is now offering a EUR 7,000 discount on ID.3 models and with manufacturers following suit, Renault’s Megane e-Tech seeing price reductions albeit with the removal of standard equipment to mitigate the revenue loss.

The Italian market for 2023 closed with 1,566,448 new registrations, up 19% over 2022, but still down on 2019 levels by almost 19%. Interestingly, despite fewer new registrations year-on-year since the pandemic, the number of vehicles on the roads in Italy totalled 40,839,063 in 2023, whereas 2019 vehicles totalled 39,545,232. This suggests more people turned to the second-hand market than purchasing new.