Planet Normal: Public ‘coerced’ into buying electric vehicles, warns Vertu boss
The public is being “coerced” into buying electric cars instead of petrol and diesel vehicles, the boss of one of Britain’s biggest dealerships has said.
Robert Forrester claimed the state had “imposed itself into the new car market”, at the risk of triggering a decline in sales.
Mr Forrester, chief executive of Vertu, previously said sales of petrol and hybrid cars were being rationed to avoid net zero fines.
Speaking to The Telegraph’s Planet Normal podcast, Mr Forrester said Rishi Sunak’s zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate had distorted the market, with consumers buying electric vehicles (EVs) instead of the petrol and diesel cars they really want.
“Actually, it’s not willing buyers [and] willing sellers. The state has imposed itself into the new car market and will do similarly with regards to vans to – to use the word advisedly – coerce a large percentage of the buying public into buying electric vehicles,” he said.
“If my predictions are correct, the new car market is going to decline as a result of this regulatory interference in the natural market.”
Car industry bosses have been sounding the alarm over Mr Sunak’s ZEV mandate, which says that about 22 per cent of new cars sold this year must be EVs.
This target rises to 80 per cent by 2030 and 100 per cent by the middle of the next decade. Car manufacturers that do not meet the targets can be fined £15,000 per infringing vehicle they sell.
Warning of collapse
In August the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) – which represents the likes of Avis, Enterprise and Octopus Electric Vehicles – warned that the mandate could collapse the value of second hand EVs.
Gerry Keaney, the BVRLA’s chief executive, said: “The ZEV mandate timetable and 2030 phase out target for cars present a major risk unless we see much greater government support to stimulate new and used [battery EV] demand and better charging infrastructure.”
Second-hand car salesmen are worried that if prices continue to fall because of lack of consumer demand for EVs, their industry will have to tighten its collective belt.
While a fall in prices would benefit consumers, it would be likely to cause car makers to reduce production of new cars so as to maintain their profit margins.
EVs accounted for almost one quarter of new car sales in August as manufacturers resorted to cutting prices and rationing petrol vehicles to hit their net zero targets.
A Government spokesman said: “We do not recognise these claims, with industry data showing that the UK car market is as strong as ever.
“The target for zero emission cars in 2024 is 22 per cent, which gives manufacturers flexibility to sell a range of products, as they have done in previous years.”
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