11:43 am, April 1, 2025
Vauxhall dealers are to reduce the price of the brand’s top spec models as the firm looks to get around the new Expensive Car Supplement.
Introduced today (Apr 1), the new charge impacts on battery-powered vehicles costing over £40,000. It imposes an additional annual fee of £425 for five years on top of the standard rate of tax, which stands at £10 for the first year and £195 thereafter.
In response to the move, Vauxhall has slashed the prices of it’s most expensive models in order to make sure they don’t fall in with the higher rate.
Previously, Vauxhall’s range-topping Grandland Ultimate would’ve cost just over £40,000 but the brand has now adjusted this to £37,730.
Boss Eurig Druce said the decision was motivated by a desire to ‘make electric mobility accessible and affordable for British drivers’.
He said: ‘With electric cars no longer exempt from Vehicle Excise Duty, Vauxhall is making electric mobility accessible and affordable for British drivers.
‘The Vauxhall electric car range now sits below the £40,000 Expensive Car Supplement threshold, saving customers some £2,125 in road tax over the first few years of ownership.’
The tax changes mean that drivers of new EVs costing over £40,000 could face up to £620 per year in road tax, or a total of £3,110 over the first six years of ownership. By contrast, drivers of EVs costing under £40,000 will pay just £985 for the same period.
Prior to today’s change electric vehicle owners didn’t have to pay any tax.
Druce, who previously questioned the government’s attitude towards the automotive industry at Car Dealer Live, is now calling on the latest changes to be reversed.
He added: ‘The threshold for the Expensive Car Supplement has remained at £40,000 since inception in 2017 despite subsequent high levels of inflation – if it were to have risen with inflation it would now be around £52,000.
‘With the average price of an EV in the UK at around £48,000, this new tax means that customers buying some of the more attainable electric cars on the market are now being penalised whilst at the same time we are trying to move as many British motorists to electric as quickly as possible.
‘The good news is that Vauxhall electric customers are below this new threshold, but we’d urge the government to reconsider this new measure and ensure taxation policies incentivise the majority of drivers to make the shift to electric vehicles.’
