Microlino production may move to China

There are considerations that the Swiss electric cabin scooter Microlino be built in China in the future. The founding family Ouboter criticised the lack of support for light electric vehicles in Europe, and is looking to other continents to build their business.

Thus far, the family invested around 70 million Swiss francs in production and has produced almost 4,800 Microlinos in Turin to date. However, now, the family says that instead of the hoped-for support from authorities, Wim Ouboter and his two sons, Oliver and Merlin Ouboter, feel disadvantaged compared to traditional car manufacturers.

Specifically, the Microlino founders see European regulations as the main problem. Vehicles in the compact L7e category, which includes the Microlino, do not benefit from subsidies, CO₂ credits or tax breaks in Europe. This means that they lack the incentives that larger electric cars enjoy. Conversely, they are affected by import duties. Furthermore, classification remains an issue. For example, in Switzerland, the Microlino is treated as a small motorbike when it comes to registration, but as a passenger car when it comes to import.

Meanwhile, the Ouboter family estimates that production in China would be around half as expensive as in Europe, and there is also talk of possible investments from China.

“If Europe doesn’t act, production will no longer take place here in future,” Wim Ouboter is quoted as saying by Swiss media. China offers government subsidies and significantly cheaper production conditions, which could make relocating production attractive.

At the beginning of the year, it was also considered whether production in India would be a good move; however, it appears that the financial incentives in China are better. Just before that, at the Brussels Motor Show, Microlino also introduced a new variant of the compact electric vehicle.

tagesanzeiger.ch, via aargauerzeitung.ch (paywall, both in German)