Ministers came under fire today after admitting they were warned months ago that a Vauxhall factory could close because of electric car sales targets.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds told the Commons that the boss of Stellantis, which owns Vauxhall, first warned him just 10 days after the election in mid-July.
But he failed to launch a review of the EV sales mandate until this week – too late to save the Luton-based factory and up to 1,100 jobs.
During a heated debate in the Commons, the Tories’ business spokesman Andrew Griffith jumped on the admission, accusing the Government of ‘killing’ jobs by dragging its feet.
It came as industry figures obtained by the Daily Mail revealed that less than one in five EVs have been sold to private buyers this year, plunging Labour’s net-zero plans deeper into chaos.
Between January and October just 19.8 per cent of EVs were sold to private motorists, with businesses buying the rest.
This was down from 23.5 per cent for the same period last year.
It is a major blow for the Government’s target of banning new petrol and diesel car sales by 2030 – which it brought forward five years – because convincing more than 30million drivers to make the switch to EVs is one of the biggest hurdles it faces.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds told the Commons that the boss of Stellantis, which owns Vauxhall, first warned him just 10 days after the election in mid-July. But he failed to launch a review of the EV sales mandate until this week
Today the chairman of Ford in Britain, Lisa Brankin (pictured), said the car giant supports the Government’s net-zero ambitions but that there currently ‘isn’t customer demand’ for EVs
The Vauxhall factory in Luton. Ministers came under fire today after admitting they were warned months ago that a Vauxhall factory could close because of electric car sales targets
Today the chairman of Ford in Britain, Lisa Brankin, said the car giant supports the Government’s net-zero ambitions but that there currently ‘isn’t customer demand’ for EVs, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘Without demand the [sales] mandate just doesn’t work.’
She called on the government to create financial incentives for private buyers to stimulate demand. By contrast, businesses enjoy tax breaks if they buy EVs.
Stellantis announced the closure of the Vauxhall van-making factory on Tuesday, putting around 1,100 jobs at risk.
The firm said the sales targets, known as the ‘ZEV mandate’ and initially introduced by the previous Tory government, were partly to blame.
Ministers are now expected to drastically water down the mandate.
Quizzed in the Commons about how long he’d known that the Vauxhall factory was under threat, Mr Reynolds said he was informed ten days after the election by Stellantis’s CEO.
Mr Griffith replied: ‘The government’s policy on zero-emission vehicles is a jobs killer. They say they have been talking [to Stellantis] since July.
Vauxhall factory in Luton. Stellantis announced the closure of the Vauxhall van-making factory on Tuesday, putting around 1,100 jobs at risk
During a heated debate in the Commons, the Tories ’ business spokesman Andrew Griffith jumped on the admission, accusing the Government of ‘killing’ jobs by dragging its feet
‘So why, Mr Speaker, this panicked U-turn when it’s already too late?’
He added: ‘The closure of the Luton plant, I fear, is just a downpayment on jobs that will be lost under this Government’s relentless attacks on industry, its neglect of the realities of business and its failure to meet its promise not to raise taxes.’
Mr Reynolds hit back, saying the attack was ‘the single most dishonest statement I have heard’ because it was the Tories who introduced the ZEV mandate.
But he was accused of hypocrisy by Tory MP Saqib Bhatti, who pointed out that Mr Reynolds voted in favour of the sales mandate when it went through the Commons.
Under the mandate, at least 22 per cent of new cars sold by manufacturers in the UK this year must have zero-emission capability. For vans it is 10 per cent.
This is set to increase to 28 per cent next year and will rise each year over the next decade – to 80 per cent in 2030 and 100 per cent in 2035.