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It warned that weak demand for electric cars and the requirement to fulfil sales quotas had ” the potential for devastating impacts on business viability and jobs”.<\/p>\n
Ford, which last week, announced it will cut 800 jobs in the UK over the next three years, said the industry needed customer incentives to support orders of electric cars.<\/p>\n
“The one thing that we really need is government-backed incentives to urgently boost the uptake of electric vehicles, because without demand the mandate just doesn’t work,” Lisa Brankin, Ford UK’s chair and managing director, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.<\/p>\n
She said Ford has invested “significantly” in the production and development of EVs, with “well over” \u00a3350m put into electrification in the UK. “So we kind of need to make it work,” she said.<\/p>\n
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds confirmed it would consult on the so-called zero emissions vehicle mandate, saying: “We get it. We get the seriousness of the situation and we get the urgency.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under the current mandate, a percentage of the cars that companies sell must qualify as zero-emission.<\/p>\n
EVs must make up 22% of a company’s car sales and 10% of its van sales this year. For every car sale outside of that, firms must pay a \u00a315,000 fine.<\/p>\n
It is set to rise to 28% cars and 16% vans in 2025, and by 2030, companies should be ensuring that 80% of the cars are EVs.<\/p>\n
There are flexibilities in the system, allowing manufacturers who can\u2019t meet the targets to buy “credits” from those that can.<\/p>\n
In practice, this means buying credits from companies such as Tesla or Chinese firm BYD, which build electric models exclusively.<\/p>\n
Manufacturers argue that demand for electric cars has not been as high as was expected when the rules were drawn up.<\/p>\n
As a result, to avoid fines, they say they are having to discount new vehicles heavily, or subsidise rivals that build electric cars only, none of whom have a manufacturing base in the UK.<\/p>\n
Sales of electric cars have been increasing. In October, they made up one out of every five cars registered. However, industry sources insist this is largely down to unsustainable discounting.<\/p>\n
At the SMMT’s annual dinner on Tuesday, Reynolds said told the audience he is \u201cprofoundly concerned\u201d about the way zero emissions policies currently operate.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to be frank with you. I don\u2019t believe the policies that we have inherited, and I mean specifically in relation to zero emission vehicles, are operating today in a way anyone intended them to,” he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn fact, I am profoundly concerned by how that is working at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said: “We know you need certainty and that\u2019s why we will fast track that consultation, giving you clarity on the direction of travel and ensuring you have the answers you need in the coming weeks.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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