Social leasing: after Stellantis, Renault says it is ready to supply more electric cars

Already “more than 80,000” people interested in social leasing, for only around 25,000 vehicles available. Faced with the craze for “social leasing” officially launched at the beginning of the month by the government, manufacturers say they are ready to ramp up more quickly than expected. The Renault group indicated to Le Figaro that it had “revised (its) production capacities upwards” for its two electric vehicles eligible for the system, the Twingo E-Tech (offered from 40 euros per month) and the Megane E-Tech (150 euros per month).

The diamond group does not specify the number of vehicles that it was initially supposed to provide as part of this system, nor the number of cars that will ultimately be made available. Renault only indicates that it has increased its production capacities “by several thousand units for each model”. Its competitor Stellantis, which notably owns the Peugeot, Citroën and Fiat brands and offers ten models via electric leasing, is also ready to do more. “Stellantis confirmed to me that they were ready to provide additional vehicles if the French kept this promise,” said Agnès Pannier-Runacher, then still Minister of Energy Transition, on Franceinfo on Monday. Contacted, his office specifies that Stellantis told the minister “that they could probably produce a little more than expected”.

At Le Figaro, the Franco-Italian-American automobile group, resulting from the merger of the PSA Peugeot-Citroën and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles groups, confirms. “It is a real success and we support the government, in accordance with the declaration of Minister Pannier-Runacher,” it says, claiming to be “leader in electric leasing” launched by the government. “Stellantis has committed to making 20,000 vehicles at the start of the system,” reports the group. This therefore takes the lion's share, since this figure represents 80% of the 25,000 available vehicles initially announced by the government. Which would mean that Renault was much less generous than its competitor, even if the diamond group refuses to give figures.

Whatever happens, the government wants at all costs to avoid disappointing too many people. Such a risk looms, while “there have been more than a million connections on the system’s platform” and “more than 80,000 people have asked to be recontacted,” said Agnès Pannier-Runacher in La Tribune Dimanche. last weekend. “We will do our utmost to ensure that as many French people as possible can have access to these vehicles if it turns out that there are more of them than expected who want to take advantage of the offer,” the minister assured Monday on Franceinfo.

There is no budgetary obstacle to an anticipated increase in social leasing, which should concern 50,000 vehicles in 2025, those around Agnès Pannier-Runacher said at the start of the week. The envelope of 300 million euros allocated to the system this year could therefore swell, given that the State subsidizes it to the tune of 13,000 euros per vehicle. “The obstacle has always been industrial,” the minister’s office was told, specifying that the 25,000 vehicles initially announced corresponded to “the number of vehicles available which had been evaluated by the manufacturers.” Unless the reshuffle changes the position of the executive.