A third of dealers report ‘insufficient demand’ for EVs

A third of dealers believe there is insufficient demand for electric vehicles in the current market compared to the supply available.

That’s a key finding of a survey from Startline which found that 31% say there is insufficient demand for EVs.

The survey found that 71% of dealers say that not enough is being done to support the UK motor industry’s transition to electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing.

Oversupply in the market has seen used EV values decline. According to Auto Trader used electric vehicle (EV) values were on average £33,060 in mid-March, down -13% on the same period last year.

In contrast, the average price of a used petrol (£16,102) and diesel (£16,236) car rose 4.3% and 2.4% respectively, according to data from Auto Trader.

Paul Burgess, CEO at Startline Motor Finance, said: “Electrification is the single biggest change to motor manufacturing that any of us are likely to see in our lifetimes and is having a fundamental effect on how and where manufacturers make cars.

“Motor manufacturing remains a cornerstone of the UK economy but there is clearly a general perception among dealers that not enough is being done to ensure that we preserve the base that we have, never mind look to expand it.

“Brexit is clearly an issue here, having made the UK simply a more difficult place for major manufacturers to make vehicles, but there also appears to be little in the way of an industrial strategy to convince car makers that this remains a great place to have factories.

“If you look across our volume manufacturing base, only Nissan and Stellantis have fully committed to making electric vehicles here while bad news isn’t difficult to find, notably with the recent loss of Ford research and development jobs.”

The key issue, say 40% of dealers, is that not enough battery manufacturing capacity is being created while 31% report that sufficient consumer demand for EVs just doesn’t yet exist.
The Startline Used Car Tracker is compiled monthly for Startline Motor Finance by APD Global Research. This time, 306 consumers and 62 dealers were questioned.