Restricting supply of petrol cars still an option for Ford as EV targets bite
The government’s consultation on the ZEV mandate is due in the next few months and should provide some certainty for manufacturers but Ford may still cut petrol and diesel car supplies
Ford has doubled-down on its threats to limit the sales of petrol and diesel cars in order to meet ZEV mandate quotas. This comes as car manufacturers continue to struggle with the harsh penalties threatened by the current version of the government’s tough electrification targets.
Speaking to Auto Express, Ford UK’s CEO, Lisa Bradkin said that “Limiting ICE remains an option, but it’s not one we really want to take”. This follows comments made by the American giant’s European boss, Martin Sander, at a conference last year, when he refused to “buy compliance”, threatening to “take shipments of ICE vehicles to the UK down, and sell these vehicles somewhere else”.
Such a move would inevitably raise prices further, which is not good news, especially considering Ford’s cheapest model is now, following the axe of the Fiesta supermini, the petrol Puma SUV which starts from over £26,000.
Such a move by Ford could be triggered by an unwelcome outcome to the ongoing review into the government’s ZEV mandate targets. While little is known about what alterations the government may make to the current policy, Bradkin told Auto Express that: “We’ve had really good engagement with the government and I think that they understand. The concern is that [the review] is taking a really long time. We don’t know when we’re going to get a response and we don’t know what the decision is going to be, and so there’s a massive level of uncertainty.”
Job cuts and factory closures
That said, Ford has already reacted to the UK’s volatile ZEV landscape, cutting 800 jobs at its Dunton HQ in Essex. This came shortly after Vauxhall owner, Stellantis, followed up on its threat to cease production in the UK unless the government makes changes to the ZEV mandate, with the firm’s iconic Luton plant set to close in April. Nissan has also threatened to pull the plug on production – a frightening prospect for the UK automotive industry given that the Japanese firm is the nation’s biggest producer of cars.
Speaking at the SMMT’s Electrified conference in Westminster, Minister for Future Roads, Lillian Greenwood MP, promised the results of the government’s consultation on the ZEV mandate would be published “later in Spring”. Guidance from the Cabinet Office says a response should be supplied no further than 12 weeks following a consultation’s end, meaning the very latest we should expect an update should be this May.
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