The Guardian has said that a report it has seen shows carmakers including BMW, Ford, Honda, Jaguar Land Rover and McLaren lobbied the UK Government to delay its ban on the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles planned initially for 2040 but then brought forward to 2030.
Apparently, some car makers wrote to the Government warning that bringing forward to ban to help the UK achieve its emissions targets would result in plunging sales and job losses. Ignoring the car sector’s pleadings, the Government accelerated the transition to EVs by announcing the 2030 deadline in November.
The newspaper also said the SMMT added its voice to the lobby citing a feared drop in car sales from 2.3m in 2025 to only about 800,000 in that year and arguing that a 2035 ban would see UK car sales stall at around 1.2m in that year whereas a 2040 deadline would see over 2m sales.