Finally, the social leasing promised by Emmanuel Macron during the 2022 presidential campaign has arrived. This rental offer subsidized by the State aims to offer the most modest French people new electric cars at only €100 per month (excluding insurance).
There are certainly already today some models offered at this price, or even less, but with a first rent increased to several thousand euros, which the ecological bonus does not allow to completely absorb. Only customers with an eligible vehicle to scrap can possibly cover this initial contribution, by benefiting from the conversion bonus.
During the French automobile industry day, this Tuesday, October 24, Bruno Le Maire, the Minister of the Economy, was able to confirm that the first rent for social leasing would be “entirely the responsibility of the State”.
Eligible vehicles should be of the same style as those currently available with rental offers at €100 per month, mainly city cars. “I am thinking, for example, of the Citroën ë-C3, the electric Fiat 500 or the Twingo e-techexplained Bruno Le Maire, but “there can obviously be other vehicles”. The Twingo should, however, leave the Renault catalog very soon, replaced by the electric R5. The latter should also be eligible for this offer, as Clément Beaune, the Minister Delegate in charge of Transport, had already mentioned.
Note that the Dacia Spring and MG 4, on the other hand, will not be available within this social leasing, at least in their current form. Like the 2024 ecological bonus, this rental offer will in fact be conditional on an environmental score, which should exclude electric cars produced in China and these two models are part of it.
Who will be able to benefit from it?
This social leasing will be aimed at the lowest 50% of French households, i.e. those with a reference tax income per person of less than €20,850. A dedicated platform will be set up to subscribe to this offer online from November, for the first deliveries in early 2024. It will also be possible to subscribe to a purchase option, as with manufacturers, to be able to acquire the vehicle at the end of rental period.
A decree will be published very soon in the Official Journal and should clarify the remaining gray areas regarding social leasing.