The National Franchised Dealer Association (NFDA) expressed concerns on the government ZEV Mandate published yesterday.
It said the decision to leave the numbers unchanged had caused concerns among franchised dealers given the government’s decision to roll back the deadline for sale of ICE cars to 2035.
NFDA CEO Sue Robinson said: “The Government’s decision to keep the electric vehicle sales targets for cars in the ZEV mandate unchanged generates concern amongst franchised dealers.
“These ambitious registration targets will create a difficult trading environment in conjunction with the recent decision to push back the ban of petrol and diesel vehicles from 2030 to 2035.”
“As the consumer facing end of the industry, franchised dealers will have to continue to push for electric vehicles to meet these targets whilst the recent five-year delay will likely damage consumers demand for electric vehicles.
The NFDA urged the government to introduce attractive incentives to make electric vehicles more accessible for less-affluent motorists.”
“For vans, NFDA embraces the revised trajectories. This adjustment better aligns with market demand and establishes more attainable objectives within the sector.”
“NFDA expressed that the proposed targets were too ambitious for areas such as Northern Ireland, which are extremely underprepared in terms of electric vehicle infrastructure, with only 1% of UK chargers being installed in the province.
“We therefore welcome these regulations not applying to Northern Ireland while the Assembly at Stormont is not sitting. Today’s decision gives the sector in Northern Ireland time to catch up to the rest of the UK.
Earlier this year Motor Trader looked at how individual carmakers would fare with the Mandate.