8:15 am, December 11, 2024
Vertu Motors has brand new sold petrol cars stuck in compounds and cannot deliver them to customers in time for Christmas because of the ZEV Mandate, its boss has said.
In a column for Auto Express, CEO Robert Forrester blasted the government’s ZEV Mandate and its decision to move the date of the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesels from 2035 to 2030.
He said the UK is ‘out of step’ with other countries such as the USA, and, as a consequence, manufactures are ‘exasperated’ and workers are losing their jobs.
Forrester revealed that despite the listed dealer group asking for conversations with government ministers to understand the consequences for the motor trade, Whitehall has so far spurned all meetings.
‘The auto-sector employs over one million people. Half of this is in manufacturing, the rest is in the sales, service and supply chain,’ he wrote.
‘My own firm leads the sector in the number of electric vehicles it sells but it is still nowhere near the government’s arbitrary targets. Ministers have only talked to manufacturers and have spurned all my requests for a meeting to explain the consequences for your neighbourhood car dealer.’
Thanks to manufacturers all racing to hit the 22% quota to meet this year’s ZEV Mandate target, deliveries of sold petrol and diesel cars cannot be carried out before Christmas, Forrester revealed.
‘We have petrol cars in compounds which have been sold to customers, but the keys cannot be handed over because manufacturers, understandably, want to avoid fines at the end of this year.
‘Christmas is coming and there will be thousands of car customers of different dealerships around the UK who cannot take delivery of their cars because they are being held over until January and the new “quota year”.
‘It’s rationing by the back door.’
He predicted that prices of petrol and diesel cars will rise due to lack of supply, and that a ‘new, privately owned car may become the preserve of the rich and the middle class’.
Forrester called for the government to ‘change lanes’ on its automotive policies.
For the ZEV Mandate, he suggests the UK should align with the EU and US strategies.
‘I would say that we should let the market decide based on customers’ preferences, so when cheap electric vehicles are available and charging challenges have been sorted, the consumer will buy them en-masse. This will be the policy in the US. Even Elon Musk agrees, and he is the world’s largest producer of electric cars.’
He added: ‘Ministers need to apply the brakes and U-turn before they run out of road and destroy the UK’s car industry for good.’
