Car manufacturers across the UK are restricting the sale of petrol and hybrid cars to avoid net zero fines, one of the country's biggest dealership chains has claimed.
Virtue Motors CEO Robert Forrester revealed the self-imposed constraints his car dealerships are facing as they face pressure to meet state-imposed climate targets.
The move comes as consumer demand for pricey electric vehicles continues to wane.
Electric vehicle sales plummet across Europe amid sluggish demand https://t.co/TPjHgK0yTT
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) April 18, 2024
Forester says this means people who order a new car now may not receive it until February next year. said of Daily Telegraph:
Some franchises have a limited supply of gasoline and hybrid cars that are actually in demand – as if they can't supply the cars people want, but they probably have plenty of cars people don't want.
They [manufacturers] They are trying to avoid fines and are limiting the supply of gasoline vehicles to meet government targets.
Forester blames this on zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) regulations, which from this year require at least 22% of all cars sold across the UK to be electric.
This percentage will increase every year and reach 80 percent by 2030.
A car charges at an electric vehicle (EV) station at a Cornwall service station near St. Austell, England, on August 14, 2024. Governments have committed to reducing future carbon dioxide emissions, requiring more drivers to switch from petrol and diesel cars to EVs. But there are concerns that the UK's charging network may not yet be ready to cope with the huge demand created by the rise in EVs on the road. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
He added: “What the government is actually doing is suppressing the new car market, which has a huge impact on their VAT revenues and creates a business environment in the UK where manufacturers are questioning whether they want to build cars here.”
“Carlos Tavares [chief executive of Stellantis] Why should we have to sell cars at a loss because of UK government policies?
“Unfortunately, the new car market is no longer a market; it's a government-imposed supply chain.”
The problem of sluggish EV sales is not limited to the UK market.
'Mr Bean' star Rowan Atkinson blamed for sluggish EV saleshttps://t.co/SXPqFrYhzP
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) February 7, 2024
Demand for EVs has dried up, with figures showing sales across Europe plummeting in March, despite the EU moving to ban gasoline and diesel cars by the mid-2020s, Breitbart News reported.
Sales of electric cars fell 11.3% in Germany, Europe's largest economy, as demand plummeted 28.9%, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA).
Just 13% of new registrations were electric, down from 13.9% in March last year and down from 14.6% for all of 2023, continuing a long-term decline in buyer interest.
