HANNOVER (dpa-AFX) - Lower Saxony's Minister President Stephan Weil is continuing to push for new state support for the purchase of electric cars. The SPD politician said in an interview with the "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung" that the abolition of the purchase premium was "definitely a big mistake", which had led to a considerable drop in sales.

"We absolutely need a government incentive to buy an electric car again," Weil demanded. This does not necessarily have to be a return to the old purchase premium. Tax reductions are also conceivable for him. "Private e-car customers could then deduct a certain portion of the purchase price over a number of years and would therefore have a tax advantage." Either way, people need a financially tangible signal that the state is moving further in the direction of electromobility and wants to help citizens.

Weil had already proposed a tax reduction for the purchase of e-cars at the end of September, without specifying the size of the discount.

With regard to the cost-cutting plans at crisis-ridden car manufacturer Volkswagen, where Weil sits on the Supervisory Board, the head of government renewed his appeal to resolve the dispute over savings and a new wage agreement before Christmas. "This can and should - if at all possible - be achieved," said Weil. "Those involved in the wage negotiations should not leave hundreds of thousands of people in uncertainty about their professional future and that of their families over Christmas and New Year's Eve."

IG Metall is calling warning strikes at nine of Volkswagen's ten German sites today./cwe/DP/zb