UK ban on petrol, diesel cars condemned

The CEO of Aston Martin has declared the ban on diesel and petrol cars a shambles.

GRAEME PATON
July 27, 2017
The Times

The head of one of Britain’s leading luxury car brands has attacked the government’s plan to ban the sale of diesel and petrol cars within a generation, branding it “absurd”.

Andy Palmer, chief executive of Aston Martin, said that the idea would destroy Britain’s rich heritage in the production of premium and luxury vehicles. He insisted that companies such as Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Aston Martin and McLaren would still need to produce diesel and petrol models for the overseas market, which will require these vehicles beyond 2040, when the government ban is introduced.

Mr Palmer warned that the proposal, which was outlined in the government’s new air-quality plan, would prevent British carmakers from testing their vehicles in the UK.

Manufacturers complained that they had not been warned about the government’s proposal in advance, and said that it jeopardised the livelihoods of 170,000 workers in the motor manufacturing sector.

One angry car industry executive told The Times last night: “It’s a shambles. We haven’t been consulted. Who’s in charge? Is it [Michael] Gove [the environment secretary]? Is it the Department for Transport? Is it the business secretary? And why has this come out when No 10 is on holiday?”

Hybrid vehicles and pure electric cars accounted for only 4.2 per cent of all new cars sold in the UK over the past 12 months, with petrol and diesel still responsible for the vast majority of sales.

Previously, the government had said that it had an ambition for all new cars and vans to be zero-emission vehicles by 2040. However, yesterday’s announcement by Mr Gove went a step further by banning new diesel and petrol cars within 23 years.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders rounded on the proposals, warning that they risked damaging confidence in British industry.

Mike Hawes, the society’s chief executive, said that the government had to give the car industry more time to adjust to a zero-emissions future.

He said there were only 12,000 public charging points in Britain and new power infrastructure would be needed, as well as steps to ensure that the power network could cope with large numbers of people seeking to charge vehicles at the same time.

“Demand for alternatively fuelled vehicles is growing but still at a very low level as consumers have concern over affordability, range and charging points,” he said. “Outright bans risk undermining the current market for new cars and our sector which supports [more than] 800,000 jobs across the UK, so the industry instead wants a positive approach which gives consumers incentives to purchase these cars.

“We could undermine the UK’s successful automotive sector if we don’t allow enough time for the industry to adjust.”

Mr Palmer told the Financial Times that the “entire British car industry is deeply rooted in gasoline and diesel”, adding that the 2040 target was absurd. “The UK excels at premium and luxury cars, from Bentley and Rolls-Royce to Aston Martin and McLaren,” he said. “Luxury car buyers around the world in 2040 will still require gasoline engines. If your home market suddenly bans gasoline, then really practically speaking, where are we going to test the things?”

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation and a former director- general of roads at the department for transport, said: “Reaffirming the 2040 target for all new cars to be zero emission at the tailpipe is unsurprising, but there’s still a lot to do to get the take-up of ultra-low emission cars on to the right trajectory given that there are only 100,000 of them on the road out of a car fleet of more than 30 million.”