France launches a roadmap for the development of the automotive industry, giving priority to the development of electric, hybrid and autonomous driving in the next four years

Recently, the French Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Transport and leading French automotive companies signed the "Strategic Agreement on the Automotive Industry 2018-2022" (hereinafter referred to as the "Strategic Agreement") to formulate a development roadmap for the automotive industry in the next four years in order to enhance the competitiveness of French companies in the context of earth-shaking changes in the international automotive field.

At present, there are about 4,000 companies in the French automotive industry, with a turnover of 155 billion euros, exports of 49 billion euros, and more than 400,000 employees. The country's automotive industry has basically recovered and returned to the level before the outbreak of the international financial crisis in 2008. However, the huge changes in the industry, especially the rapid development of electric, intelligent and driverless cars, have brought considerable challenges to French car companies. To this end, the government has joined hands with leading companies to plan the future direction of the development of the automotive industry.

"The survival of the automotive industry in the coming years will depend on its ability to turn to electrification, autonomous driving and new mobile services," said Luc Chatel, president of the French Automobile Industry Association. According to the "strategic agreement", the French automotive industry will give priority to the development of electric, hybrid and driverless cars in the next four years, and the government will also provide support to enterprises in terms of talent and funds.

First, increase the supply of pure electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles to adapt to changes in EU rules. In 2017, France sold 30,000 electric vehicles and there were 20,000 charging stations in France. The EU stipulates that by 2021, the carbon dioxide emissions of each car per kilometer must not exceed 95 grams. The "Strategic Agreement" stipulates that by 2022, France will increase the sales of pure electric vehicles by four times, raising the number of pure electric vehicles to 600,000; and the number of hybrid vehicles to 400,000.

In order to solve the constraints of the layout and number of charging piles on the development of electric vehicles, the "Strategic Agreement" also stipulates that the ratio of the number of charging piles to the number of electric vehicles will reach 1:10, and 100,000 charging piles will be installed by 2022. The government promises to provide financial assistance for the installation of additional charging piles. In addition, France continues to subsidize the purchase of electric vehicles, with each pure electric vehicle subsidized by 5,000-7,000 euros and a maximum subsidy of 4,000 euros for hybrid vehicles. This subsidy is the same for private, corporate and government purchases, encouraging consumers to replace gasoline or diesel vehicles.

Secondly, in order to welcome the arrival of the driverless car era, the French government launched a tender in June to support the pilot program of driverless cars. Since 2014, France has conducted 54 driverless car tests on the road, and the French government and the automotive industry hope to continue to increase the number of tests. At the same time, efforts are being made to make progress in the standardization of driverless car projects in order to build the corresponding infrastructure.

The transformation of auto companies cannot be separated from the support of the government. In order to gain a foothold in the transformation of the automotive sector, companies are expected to increase employment. According to estimates by the Ministry of Economy and the Automobile Industry Association, the French automotive industry will add 25,000 new employees each year in the next four years, including 8,000 engineers, 6,000 technicians and 9,000 workers. Together with industries related to automotive services, the number of new employees will reach 40,000. In order to adapt to the above new demands, the "Strategic Agreement" stipulates that the number of apprentices and other training will be increased by 50%.

At the same time, starting this year, the French government will set up a promotion fund for small and medium-sized enterprises with the French National Investment Bank, aiming to support 150-180 small and medium-sized enterprises to become medium-sized enterprises by 2022 and promote the international development of enterprises.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.