Motor Trader The award-winning and longest running UK magazine for car retailing professionals. Your first stop for News, Jobs and Reports for the motor industry.
The Conservative Party manifesto reveres the UK car industry, calling it “the jewel of our manufacturing crown”, but did not mention any potential new measures to accelerate the switch to electric.
SMMT has consistently called for greater support for private retail uptake of EVs in the form of incentives.
However, the manifesto did mention investment to support EV infrastructure, as well as acknowledging competition with China’s EV manufacturers. Ensuring charging infrastructure is nationwide is key to an acceleration of the switch to electric. However, it is a heavily criticised roll-out.
The manifesto read: “We will always back our world-leading automotive industry, which faces unprecedented competition from China in the electric vehicles market.
“We stand ready to support domestic car manufacturers if there is evidence other countries are breaking global trade rules.”
Earlier this year, the UK government suggested it will use trade sanctions if the UK is threatened by a flood of cheap Chinese car imports.
In 2023, the UK built more than one million vehicles while securing £23.7 billion in investment.
£4 billion was invested in battery gigafactory in Somerset. Nissan is delivering up to £2bn of new investment to produce two new EV models in Sunderland while BMW made a £600m investment to produce iconic all-electric Mini Coopers in Oxfordshire.
The Advanced Manufacturing Plan, which aims to provide a £4.5 billion commitment to secure strategic manufacturing sectors including automotive, will continue. The Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate will also support manufacturers in that it will “safeguard” skilled British jobs.
The manifesto also suggested that concerns about major brands leaving the UK following Brexit were did not materialise.