The Government launches a plan to stimulate automation

Endowed with 3.75 billion euros, it has been drawn up in collaboration with industry, trade unions and other agents in the sector

The government has presented the “Plan to Stimulate the Value Chain in the Automotive Industry, toward Sustainable and Connected Mobility”. It has been drafted with support from the trade unions and the main associations in the automotive industry. The plan is intended to cover the whole of the industry's value chain, with 20 measures addressing every area, and including economic aspects, taxes, regulations, logistics, competitiveness, training and professional qualification, sustainable public procurement and strategic planning.

The new plan includes as a key issue the promotion of safe and sustainable mobility associated to the current processes of decarbonization and digital transformation. It is launched with a budget of 3.75 million euros. The first tranche – 1.535 billion euros – will be used this year to undertake a series of short-term impact measures. The remaining 2.215 million euros will be dedicated to strategic measures in the medium term, which will be implemented from 2021 and may be eligible for support from European recovery funds.

Automocion

Main tranches
Some of the measures that will be implemented thanks to this plan will benefit aspects such as recharging infrastructure, adapting cities to the new mobility needs and the electrification of transport. 350 million euros will be allocated for renewing the automobile stock to make it more sustainable and efficient. Within this category, the MOVES plan for stimulating electric and sustainable mobility will be endowed with 100 million euros. It is expected that between 3.6 and 4.1 million additional euros will be generated in the national GDP for every million euros invested in this program.

Staff qualification and professional training will receive an investment of 95 million euros, whereas the research, development and innovation area will receive 415 million euros to stimulate digitization, connectivity and innovative solutions in sustainable mobility and its associated industry. There will also be 2.69 million euros for investments in this industry between 2020 and 2022.

New tax measures
These investments come in addition to a series of new tax measures geared to fostering investment in the value chain of electric, sustainable and connected mobility. Regulatory measures will also be implemented aimed at activating private investment in this sector. The plan to promote the automotive sector is part of the plan for investment and reforms that the government intends to present to Brussels in order to receive financing from the Recovery Fund-Next Generation EU.

The government's aim is to facilitate the rapid recovery of an industry that plays a key strategic role in the Spanish economy. In fact, it represents 10% of the GDP and 19% of total exports, and employs 650,000 people directly and almost 1.4 million indirectly.

As Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez explained at its presentation: “The aim is to do whatever is necessary to mitigate the enormous losses in the sector in the 2020 financial year, while laying the foundations for the industry of tomorrow: an industry that will emerge stronger thanks to electrification and digitization and which will contribute to helping our country move forward along the path to a fair ecological transition”.