The wave of inflation also hit mobility hard last year – and more than that: the costs of purchasing, maintaining and operating private new and used vehicles have risen twice as fast as general inflation – and not for the first time.
Based on figures from Statistics Austria, there was a price increase of 17.2 percent from 2021 to 2022 – with an overall inflation rate of 8.6 percent, explains Martin Grasslober, transport economics expert at ÖAMTC. “This increase is huge – especially when you consider that the passenger car index increased by 6.8 percent between 2020 and 2021 – and therefore twice as much as the general price level.”
The biggest price drivers in 2022 were fuels, which crossed the EUR 2 mark for the first time and have risen by 42 percent, according to Statistics Austria. But the purchase cost of a car, used or new, also rose sharply by 21.5 or 7.9 percent compared to 2021. “This price development probably also contributed to the fact that the number of newly registered passenger cars fell to the lowest level in 40 years,” explains Grasslober.
All types of drives are affected by price increases
Ultimately, all types of drives are affected by higher costs. “Because of the generally higher new prices, the price increase for electric and hybrid vehicles is particularly painful anyway, because it forms an additional obstacle to a rapid replacement of the fleet with alternative drives,” notes Grasslober. “The sharply rising acquisition costs also make it more difficult to achieve the ambitious climate goals.”
Although the number of new registrations of pure electric cars increased in 2022 despite the weak overall market, the increase of 2.4 percent was manageable compared to 2021. “With figures like that, we are still a long way from achieving the climate targets,” explains Grasshopper out. It is therefore still essential for the club to make the existing fleet climate-friendly: To achieve this, biogenic and synthetic fuels, the so-called eFuels, must finally be used. “As part of a package of measures that includes the further promotion of e-mobility, but also the massive expansion of public transport,” says Grasslober.
At the same time, mobility must remain affordable, which will be achieved, for example, with a reduction in the tax on mineral oils, a sustainable reform of the travel allowance and an increase in the mileage allowance for those who make private car journeys for their employer.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
