6:15 am, July 4, 2024
Car buyers at brands including Vauxhall, Peugeot and Alfa Romeo could have no other option than to buy an electric car later this year as petrol and diesel models are temporarily removed from sale.
Parent group Stellantis has said it may be forced to throttle back sales of petrol and diesel cars later this year as it attempts to avoid paying ZEV Mandate fines.
In an exclusive video interview with Car Dealer (above), UK Group managing director Maria Grazia Davino said Stellantis will categorically not be paying fines which could lead to her taking petrol and diesel cars off sale.
To swerve the penalties – some £15k for every unit manufacturers miss this year’s 22% target by – Stellantis could make it impossible to order a petrol or diesel car.
Stellantis operates Vauxhall, Peugeot, Citroen, DS, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Abarth and Jeep franchises in the UK.
Asked if she will have to reduce the volumes of ICE cars in favour of electric models Davino said Stellantis was ‘trying not to’ and was ‘trying to protect’ customer cars.
‘But this will be an immediate consequence,’ she added.
‘I dream of a situation where we have the fullest elasticity.
‘Fines are not an option for me and that’s the reason [to reduce ICE volume]. We can’t be fined, it’s not ethical and it’s not the way we are set up. We will not pay fines.’
Stellantis has been very clear that the number of cars its brands will sell this year will fall as a result of the tough electric vehicle targets.
Davino said that ‘if needed to’ she will avoid fines by cutting back supply of combustion fuelled cars.
She explained that Stellantis was on the right ‘trajectory’ at the moment to avoid the action, but that there was a lot of ‘tension’ in the business over the targets.
During the interview she also called for additional incentives to help boost demand for EVs, including a cut in VAT, and doubled down on her threat to stop producing cars in the UK if the industry doesn’t get the help she thinks it needs.
‘It’s not a walk in the park or a normal summer break, there is a lot of tension in the business,’ she added.
She also spoke about how she is tackling cars stuck in ports, late payment of bonuses to her dealer partners and how agency sales will be delayed to at least 2027.
Watch the video interview in full at the top of this post.
