Portugal
In Portugal all e-mobility and smart city projects are planned and executed by local municipalities – presently we have 25 municipalities with smart city programs, most of which used EU funds to upgrade city infrastructure. As an example, the Lisbon municipality car fleet is 91% electric. The Mobi Cascais, of the Municipality of Cascais is the only program with an autonomous vehicle in Portugal, and the first to have all public transportation within the municipality free to its residents.
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Market Entry
The most effective way to enter the Portuguese market is to partner with a local company that can act as a local representative as well as provide insights about local market environment and trends.
Exporters of vehicles, Original Equipment (OE) parts & components, as well as aftermarket products & accessories to the European Union and its member states must undergo a thorough assessment of, and ensure compliance with, existing European Commission Directives, i.e., regulatory requirements regarding technical specifications, product safety, as well as environmental impact & requirements. In principle, type-approval granted for vehicles or vehicle parts in one EU member state should be accepted by all member states across the EU. However, individual member states may enforce more stringent or additional regulatory requirements for certain product groups and/or applications.
The mandatory European legal requirements and certification process can be challenging for U.S. vehicles and parts when exporting to Portugal. There are no customs duties on imports from European Union (EU) countries if the car is new. However, Portugal faced a discriminatory legislation on car registration tax amendment in 2019 for heavily taxing EU imported used cars purchased in the Portuguese market (https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/EN/INF_19_6304). The VAT in Portugal is 23 percent. The VAT is applied to all imports, including European vehicles. More taxes apply, depending on if the car is used for personal use or if it is a company fleet car. In the latter case if the car is a plug-in hybrid, taxes vary between 5% and 17.5%; and if it is LPG or CNG vehicle, between 7.5% and 27,5%. Diesel and gasoline have the highest tax rates, between 10% and 35%.
Electric Vehicles and Hybrid Vehicles: Zero emissions vehicles (ZEV) and hybrid vehicles continue to gain market share. These vehicles include Tesla, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic Hybrid, Lexus LS, GS and RX Hybrid, Segway among others. Portugal benefits from the first nationwide, fully interoperable electric mobility system (MOBI.E), where any user can charge any vehicle at any of the more than 1,250 charging points. An emerging cluster around new mobility concepts and services in Portugal is attracting the partnership of large corporations. Portugal is also one of the top lithium producers in
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Current Market Trends & Demand