Net zero car targets will create vehicle shortage, MPs told
Net zero targets will cause shortages of cars on Britain’s roads as manufacturers “restrict the supply of vehicles” in the UK, MPs have been warned.
Parliament’s transport committee was told on Wednesday that car makers may stop selling petrol and diesel cars as soon as this year because of Rishi Sunak’s net zero pledges.
Stephen Latham, general manager of the National Franchised Dealers’ Association, said to MPs that car makers might “restrict the supply of vehicles and transport” in response to the Government’s Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate, which says 22 per cent of all cars sold this year must be electric vehicles (EVs).
The warning comes after Ford said it might have to restrict the sale of petrol cars in the UK to avoid punitive fines under the net zero rules. Under those rules, manufacturers risk being forced to pay the Government £15,000 per petrol or diesel vehicle sold above the limit.
Mr Latham told the committee: “There are some big manufacturers who do not have the product range and they’re not getting the customer demand for EVs, and as such, they’re going to pay punitive fines.
“Now the way around that very simply, is they restrict the amount of ICE [internal combustion engine] vehicles that are available on the market.
“And that in turn, could restrict the supply of vehicles and transport to the British roads. We need to probably realign those EV mandates to take the bigger picture [into account].”
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders’ head of technology and innovation David Wong, also giving evidence to the committee, added that the automotive industry will not meet this year’s ZEV mandate target because “we’re below that trajectory”.
“Our members feel that the market will be – in terms of battery electric – cars 19.8 per cent and vans 8.3 per cent,” he said. “So it’s below the 22 per cent for cars and 10 per cent for vans.”
Ford sounded a similar warning about the ZEV mandate at an automotive conference last week, amid growing warnings from automotive analysts that carmakers might withdraw car ranges from the UK altogether rather than be fined.
Martin Sander, general manager of Ford’s electric car business, said earlier this month that the company could be forced to restrict sales of petrol cars in the UK to artificially boost the proportion of EV purchases.
He told the Financial Times’ Future of the Car summit: “We can’t push EVs into the market against demand. We’re not going to pay penalties. We are not going to sell EVs at huge losses just to buy compliance.
“The only alternative is to take our shipments of ICE vehicles to the UK down and sell them somewhere else,”
“I don’t know if consumers will like seeing the ICE prices going up,” he added.
