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Chairman of southwest England dealer group Vospers Motors says that the mandate will not be weakened
Renault Zoe charging. Image. Creative Commons / werner hillebrand-hansen
Reporter:
Peter Vosper
24 Nov 2024 12:00 PM
The Transport Secretary, Louise Haigh, said she will look at ‘flexibilities” but insisted “the mandate will not be weakened."
Despite growing pressure from the industry, the mandate will become tougher next year ahead of a complete ban on petrol and diesel vehicles in 2035.
Several senior government ministers and car makers with factories in the UK will hold crunch talks about the EV mandate and fall-off in car demand.
Louise Haigh told BBC Radio: “There has been a downturn in demand on a global level, so we are absolutely in listening mode—we want to discuss how the current situation is affecting them, but we are not diluting our ambition.”
She met with Nissan on Monday and, together with the business secretary and the energy minister, with a number of automotive manufacturers later during the week in order to discuss the challenges they face on a global scale.
According to the mandate, EVs must make up 22 per cent of a firm’s car sales and 10 per cent of their van sales and in 2025 and subsequent years this will increase. For every car sale that pushes it outside of that mandate, they must pay a fine of £15,000. They can buy credits from companies that have EV sales above 22 per cent.
A Nissan spokesman told the BBC that it is “committed to playing a full role in the transition to net zero in the UK but said “changes are required now to reflect the reality of the market, as we continue to work together to encourage more drivers to make this switch.”
A spokesman for Stellantis, which owns Citroen, Peugeot, Vauxhall, Fiat and Jeep said it aligned with the objectives of the mandate but added: "To remain efficient in the UK, we are strategically reviewing our operations, working with our union partners as previously announced. The Unite union has urged the company to commit to its future at its Luton and Ellesmere Port factories and added it is “already having talks with government and industry to reform the EV mandate to protect jobs”.
Almost half the dealers (47 per cent) say that the ZEV mandates should be reduced, according to Startline’s September Used Car Tracker, which questioned 307 consumers and 60 dealers.
52 per cent believe the market needs more time to electrify. 30 per cent think manufacturers will end up being fined. 28 per cent think the ZEV targets are too ambitious, and 23 per cent think the targets will be scrapped.
Graeme Potts, Chief Executive of Eden Motor Group, speaking at the National Franchised Dealers Driving Digital 2024 talk, said, “As retailers, we have a balancing act that is extremely challenging. Environmental concerns are hijacking customer choice in a lot of areas in the economy and not least in the automotive sector.”
Hopefully, manufacturers, motorists, and dealers will get some clarity of the way forward quickly, and some stability will return to the marketplace.
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