The National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) met with The Rt Hon Peter Kyle MP at Caffyns’ Volkswagen dealership in Brighton to discuss key issues in automotive.
Simon Caffyn, Chief Executive of Caffyns, and Iain Wallace, franchise director at Caffyns Volkswagen Brighton, hosted the visit.
Sue Robinson, Chief Executive of the NFDA, said: “Visits like these are an important opportunity to demonstrate the investment our members are making in people and new technologies, while ensuring policymakers understand the challenges businesses continue to face.”
Kyle met apprentices for a first-hand demonstration of how dealerships are investing in developing the skills needed to support the transition to electric vehicles.
Discussions focused on the ongoing challenges surrounding the ZEV Mandate, with Kyle agreeing that targets need to be more flexible, realistic and aligned with actual market conditions and met with the skills of future talent.
He said: “My whole Parliamentary career has been spent working on skills and also green energy, so to be able to combine this in a visit to an exceptional Sussex business was immensely enjoyable.
“The transition to electric vehicles will never be a success unless we train the next generation of mechanic.”
