£12,000

The current incentive to buy

an EV in France to consider an electric car.

There is also evidence of a growing shift between those confident in their financial position and those less so: around a fifth of buyers are telling What Car? they now intend to spend more on their car than they did pre-lockdown and a similar number saying they intend to spend less. For those confident of employment, with low living costs and looking at low interest rates, the upside to the pandemic could well be a flashier new car.

Will there be a scrappage scheme? suggests 29% of buyers were holding off in anticipation of a scrappage scheme. Knowing it is unlikely may push them to purchase anyway, rather than delaying in the hope of a better deal.

Of course, that statement also leaves wriggle room to change tack again, and there are alternatives to scrappage, including proposals for cars to be among purchases considered for a VAT cut.

However, with the aviation, hospitality and other retail industries in deeper trouble, and car retailers having already been given a head start in getting back to work, it seems more likely that decision makers will keep a watching brief. They will have a particularly close eye on France’s £7 billion automotive plan, including a near £12,000 EV incentive for buyers, which has pushed car sales there back within normal levels less than a month after being introduced.