British auto industry set to miss 2024 EV sales target, trade body warns
Oct 4 (Reuters) -Britain's electric vehicle market will likely miss 2024 targets set by the zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate, a trade body warned on Friday, and called on the new Labour government to introduce incentives for private buyers to speed up the switch to EVs.
The comments were made in an open letter to finance minister Rachel Reeves ahead of the Oct. 30 autumn budget, and was signed by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) CEO Mike Hawes and UK heads of several automakers.
Britain's ZEV mandate, introduced by the former Conservative government, requires at least 22% of an automaker's new car sales to be purely EVs in 2024.
"As an industry, we will likely miss those targets and a significant number of brands face the prospect of either buying credits from another company or paying swingeing compliance payments," the letter said.
Stellantis STLAM.MI in June warned it could halt its UK production unless the government does more to boost EV demand.
Hawes reiterated his calls to halve the tax on new EV purchase for three years for private customers and reduce VAT on public charging, and pointed to the growth in adoption by the fleet sector as proof that incentivisation works.
Currently, tax benefits are only applicable on commercial purchases.
UK new car sales rose 1.1% year-on-year in September, the SMMT separately said on Friday, with sales of battery electric vehicles at a new record, making up for 20.5% of the overall market powered by fleet purchases.
"September's record EV performance is good news, but look under the bonnet and there are serious concerns as the market is not growing quickly enough to meet mandated targets," Hawes said.
Several global automakers have scaled down their EV production targets on slowing demand.
Reporting by Prerna Bedi and Yadarisa Shabobg in Bengaluru and Nick Carey in London; Editing by Vijay Kishore
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