The ZEV Mandate is not just distorting the new car market but also putting the used sector at risk as well.
That’s the view of Mike Hawes, SMMT CEO who said welcomed the government’s announcement to review the ZEV Mandate.
“The mandate drives market share, not volume, and it is volumes and margin that industry needs to be profitable – to underpin future investment, model innovation and rollout.
“It is also volume, not share, that will determine growth in the wider EV ecosystem and infrastructure.
“Pushing new EV supply further and further ahead of underlying demand (with repeated surveys, by Autotrader, Deloitte and others putting that demand at around 10% to 13%, far behind the mandated 33% this year, 38% next year and 52% the year after) also risks a pipeline of used EVs into the second-hand market that, because of initial discounting and support, destroys residual values, causes instability and undermines confidence.
Hawes said EV supply must be delivered at a “sustainable pace” that doesn’t undermine the total cost of new EV ownership – and without damaging industry’s ability to deliver the very choice which motorists expect.
“With government’s consultation now underway, industry will continue to work with government and stakeholders to make the case for change in how, not when, road transport decarbonisation is delivered,” he said.
