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Ford is prepared to restrict the sale of petrol models in the UK in order to hit the country’s stretching EV targets, a move that is likely to push up prices for consumers, its European boss has warned.
Martin Sander also pushed back plans to sell only electric cars in Europe by 2030, saying the old target was now “irrelevant” because sales were “below expectations”.
He told a Financial Times summit that weak sales meant the company’s only option to avoid crippling fines under the UK’s new EV quota rules was to divert sales to other countries.
“We can’t push EVs into the market against demand. We’re not going to pay penalties. We are not going to sell EVs at huge losses just to buy compliance. The only alternative is to take our shipments of [engine] vehicles to the UK down and sell these vehicles somewhere else,” he told the FT’s Future of the Car Summit in London.
He added: “I don’t know if consumers in the UK would like seeing [engine vehicle] prices going up.”
The UK has a China-style quota to drive electric vehicle sales, with targets of 22 per cent this year, rising every year until 2030. EV sales have accounted for less than 17 per cent of new car UK sales this year.
While other car manufacturers have called the targets challenging, none has yet openly said they plan to hold back petrol car sales to comply with the rules.
At the same conference, UK transport decarbonisation minister Anthony Browne said he did not expect carmakers to end up paying fines, which are £15,000 per vehicle that misses the targets.
He said the UK EV market was “in very early days”, adding “I’m not worried at all”. He added that cheaper electric cars from established manufacturers and from new Chinese brands would help drive customers into EVs.
Ford’s Sander also told the conference that the speed of shifting to EV cars in Europe was “down to the consumer” and that the company was prepared to continue selling hybrid models into the next decade.
“Demand is behind our expectations now and we are not hitting our ambitious targets. Everyone is getting extremely nervous,” Sander said.
“It’s irrelevant if [the EV-only date] is going to be in 2030 or 2035. The trajectory is clear.”
He added: “We are committed to zero emissions . . . We just need to be reasonable about it and together find a way to manage to get to net zero in a profitable way.”
Ford previously set a target of selling only electric cars in Europe by 2030, and electric vans by 2035.
Carmakers have warned that electric car sales are rising more slowly than expected as mainstream consumers are put off by higher prices and remain sceptical about charging and range.
But manufacturers are still forced to meet tightening CO₂ emissions targets in Europe, as well as EV sales quotas in the UK.
Earlier on Tuesday, Peugeot chief executive Linda Jackson said the company had “no choice” but to meet its plan to sell only electric vehicles in Europe by 2030.
“As a manufacturer we have to meet it,” she told the summit. “There is no way that we will pay penalties, not from an ethical point of view nor from a business point of view.”
Robert Johnson is a UK-based business writer specializing in finance and entrepreneurship. With an eye for market trends and a keen interest in the corporate world, he offers readers valuable insights into business developments.
