Dr. Peter Mock:

There was a question about France and Norway and the experience there. For France, it is a little bit early because, as Mr. Nix mentioned, they only introduced that weight-based aspect in 2022. However, the typical French new car is on average already lighter than the European and Irish cars. It is approximately 10% lighter than cars in Ireland, for example. The hope of the French regulators is that cars in France stay lighter than the European average or become even lighter. That is why they introduced this measure.

For Norway, it is a bit more tricky. The average new car in Norway weights approximately 2 tonnes. It is significantly heavier than the average car in Ireland and the European Union. However, one also has to take into account that in Norway 90% of new cars are fully electric or plug-in hybrid electric and, therefore, one needs to subtract the battery weight. If one subtracts approximately 400 kg or 500 kg from that 2 tonnes, one gets the European average, meaning that the Norwegian cars are not heavier than the European average. It is a little tricky. It deserves more attention but I would expect, because, typically, people always try to avoid taxes, that these taxation measures really have a strong effect on consumer choice.