- Carlos Tavares said laws would force manufacturers to sell vehicles at a loss
The net zero crackdown on petrol cars is ‘terrible for the UK’ and could force Vauxhall to stop selling some models in Britain, the chief executive has warned.
Carlos Tavares, chief executive of car multinational Stellantis, said that a law to limit petrol car sales would force manufacturers to sell vehicles at a loss.
He suggested Stellantis, which is the parent company of Vauxhall Motors, would be required to slash the number of cars it sells in Britain if ministers did not make urgent changes to the rules.
The boss of the Citroen and Peugeot maker refused to rule out halting sales of some models altogether.
But a source close to the company said the more likely option was that sales would be restricted or prices would rise to compensate.
Asked whether the maker of Vauxhall and Citroën cars could stop selling models in the UK, Mr Tavares told The Telegraph: ‘I’m not going to sell cars at a loss.’
He blamed the sagging demand for electric cars, which were ‘crashing in the world of reality’ due to expensive prices, poor charging infrastructure and consumer anxiety over range.
Mr Tavares warned that the Government’s zero emissions vehicle (ZEV) mandate, which compels car manufacturers to produce a set amount of electric vehicles, would force carmakers to slash prices to unprofitable levels in order to meet the targets and avoid fines.
Under the ZEV mandate, which came into force in January, at least 22 per cent of cars sold by manufacturers in the UK must be electric.
But battery model sales only made up 15.5 per cent of total car registrations in the first three months of 2024, roughly the same as last year, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
The ZEV mandate will gradually increase up to 80 per cent by 2030, with a total ban on sales of new petrol cars due coming into force by 2035.
Mr Tavares claimed he urged the Transport Secretary, Mark Harper, to make changes to the ‘terrible’ rules at a meeting on Wednesday.
He has urged the Government to ease pressure on carmakers by allowing them to put cars they make for export towards their domestic targets.
In February Stellantis announced it would start making electric vans at its Luton plant next year in a major boost for the UK motor industry.
The executive also warned that forcing carmakers to oversell EVs would leave European carmakers more exposed to the threat from cheap Chinese electric car models.
China has made strides in recent years to amp up its EV production, accounting for 69 per cent of all new global EV sales in December alone, and roughly nine million EVs sold last year compared to the US’s 1.4 million sold in the nation.
It comes as striking images released yesterday showed thousands of cheap electric cars arriving into the UK on a single ship from China as it continues to flood Britain with an army of cheap electric cars.
There are fears that Beijing could be using the eco-friendly motors to spy on Brits and act as ‘Trojan horses’ to gather key intelligence on the UK.
Security minister Tom Tugendhat last week warned that some e-vehicles could ‘be easily turned into mobile intelligence gathering platforms’.
Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden also revealed that a top-level review is underway into whether hostile states could use e-cars as makeshift surveillance devices.
Mr Tavares’ intervention comes as MailOnline revealed in February that EV manufacturers are grappling with weaker demand for their products across the world.
This included tech giant Apple which cancelled work on its electric car project dubbed Titan and Aston Martin which delayed the launch of its first battery electric vehicle (BEV) until 2026.
Mercedes-Benz also delayed its electrification goal, while Ford has said it was rethinking its EV strategies and Volkswagen delayed launching a forthcoming EV.
And in recent months, Audi and General Motors have also reviewed their EV rollouts.
Purchases of new electric cars by private buyers fell 25 per cent in a year in January, latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) revealed.
And forecasts showed BEVs will take a market share of 21 per cent this year – down from an estimate of 22 per cent in October and the 23 per cent expected a year ago.
High interest rates are among the reasons behind a slowdown in demand for usually pricier EVs – which can be as much as £10,000 more expensive than their petrol or diesel equivalents – prompting the industry to cut jobs and reduce production.
