Swiss Mobility Policy is in Urgent Need of a Course Correction

The Swiss car market is at a historic low. The nearly 234,000 new registrations in 2025 correspond to the lowest level in 25 years, barring the Corona pandemic. While European markets are gradually recovering, Switzerland remains clearly below the pre-pandemic level of over 300,000 vehicles per year. This development is home-made: Unrealistic regulations, high energy prices, and a lack of market incentives are stalling demand. Meanwhile, the car import industry has delivered: Year after year, car manufacturers invest more than 80 billion euros in research and development, more than any other industry in Europe. Customers have a choice of around 300 electrified passenger cars, 70 vans, and 45 trucks in all price and usage categories.

Despite this broad range, the ramp-up of low-emission vehicles is progressing slowly. The market share of plug-in vehicles was around 34 percent in 2025, significantly below the political target values. The 50 percent target of the federal roadmap will be clearly missed; the spread of electromobility needs more time than expected by politics. The problem lies in the politically set framework conditions and overly ambitious deadlines: high electricity prices, insufficient urban charging infrastructure, regulatory uncertainty, as well as new tax and duty plans unsettle both private and business customers.

auto-schweiz President Peter Grünenfelder states: "Politics must stop harassing the car industry and increasing mobility costs for individuals and companies. Instead, a functioning ecosystem for electromobility, investment security, and reliable political signals for car users is needed. This benefits everyone: individuals, businesses, our economy and the climate."

Affordable mobility and better framework conditions are the keys to success

Therefore, auto-schweiz calls for reducing the financial burden on the car industry and car users. This includes a deregulation package for the car industry with a quick reduction of bureaucratic requirements that cause costs but have no steering effect, renouncing new taxes and duties, abolishing the 4 percent car import tax, and price competition in the electricity market. Also central is an improvement in the political framework for electromobility. Switzerland should adopt European flexibility measures and consistently refrain from a cost-incurring 'Swiss finish'. Goal achievement should be flattened over time, and the reduction path should be realistically designed for the market. Moving away from the ineffective sanctions policy, in favor of strengthening technological openness is needed. Helmut Ruhl, Vice President of auto-schweiz and CEO of AMAG Group AG, says: "The crucial factor for market ramp-up is also the accelerated expansion of public charging infrastructure in cities and the implementation of the right to charge."

The eight demands of auto-schweiz:
1. Deregulate the automotive industry
2. No new taxes (e-tax, LSVA)
3. Abolish the 4% automobile import tax
4. Price competition on the electricity market
5. Adopt European flexibility measures
6. Revise the CO2 penalty mechanism
7. Expand public charging infrastructure
8. “Traffic 45”: more projects for road traffic

The Swiss special path increases the cost of mobility and hinders achieving climate goals

Switzerland has one of the strictest CO2 penalty regimes in Europe with penalty payments in the hundreds of millions, which affect vehicle importers unilaterally, regardless of actual demand. Donato Bochicchio, Vice President of auto-schweiz, Managing Director PCDOL & LOGEP, Emil Frey AG, adds: "While the rest of Europe has made its CO2 requirements more flexible and wants to make them closer to the market, Switzerland sticks to a sanctions model that increases mobility costs and weakens replacement investments." Coupled with a high tax and duty burden on vehicle owners, this massively impedes further spread of electromobility.

The electric vehicle duty should be postponed

An additional duty on electric vehicles is counterproductive at this time and hampers the urgently needed market ramp-up. As long as electric vehicles make up only a small part of the total vehicle fleet, auto-schweiz strongly opposes new burdens and instead calls for stable, investment-friendly framework conditions.

Revising the heavy vehicle fee

The electrification of heavy-duty transport is a previous success of Swiss mobility policy that should not be jeopardized by regulatory uncertainty. For the performance-dependent heavy vehicle fee (LSVA), long-term planning and investment security, as well as reliable transitional rules, are needed so that companies can continue to invest in low-emission trucks.

No misappropriation of funds from car owners

Car owners already contribute around 13 billion francs annually in taxes and duties and finance the transport infrastructure more than cost-covering. These funds must be consistently and fully benefit the mobility infrastructure—misappropriation undermines acceptance, investment readiness, and trust.

Rescuing the infrastructure program 'Traffic '45' from imbalance

Another key lever for a sustainable mobility policy is the infrastructure program 'Traffic '45'. Although road traffic accounts for the majority of passenger and freight kilometers and is self- financing, urgently needed road projects are postponed for political reasons. The result is about 55,000 hours of congestion annually, with economic damages of several billion francs. auto-schweiz therefore calls for significantly more projects for road traffic. The funds are available.

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