11:52 am, October 17, 2024
Vauxhall is on target to meet this year’s ZEV mandate targets with bosses ‘super confident’ of falling in line with the controversial measures.
That is according to the firm’s UK managing director, James Taylor, who says the brand has been boosted by having an electric version of every vehicle in its range – 12 in total.
Speaking to Car Dealer, he said: ‘We are just under 20% year-to-date [ZEV percentage], so Vauxhall will be compliant by the end of the year.
‘I think it is a huge advantage in the marketplace, if we look at our competitors outside of the premiums, they’re some way away from being compliant with the ZEV mandate.
‘We’ve achieved that this year with just three products – Corsa, Mokka and Astra.
‘Next year we’ve got to go to 28% and we’ve got five products and two of those are in the biggest segment of the electric mainstream market. I’m super confident about next year with our product portfolio, we can step up from the 22% and aim for the 28%.
‘What remains to be seen is can that rate of acceleration keep going?’
The ZEV mandate kicked off in January, ensuring that each manufacturer meets a specific percentage of zero-emissions vehicle sales with a £15,000 fine being applied to every non-ZEV vehicle that exceeds this percentage.
The figure currently stands at 22% but will ramp up over the coming years, reaching 66% by 2029.
The latest model in the Vauxhall line-up to receive the EV treatment is the flagship Grandland SUV, which goes on sale this month.
Taylor added: ‘Product portfolio gives you so much, that fundamentally we need customer demand for us to be moving up if we’re going to be hitting targets for 2026 and beyond.
‘That’s why at Vauxhall we’re constantly calling for the government to put in place some demand measures to help improve electric uptake – such as halving VAT on electric vehicles alongside five per cent VAT on public charging and mandated infrastructure targets for local councils.’
The new Grandland is available to order now with prices starting at £34,700 for the hybrid and rising to £45,195 for the flagship Ultimate specification in electric guise.
