“Stellantis production in the UK could stop," says UK boss

Stellantis UK boss MariaGrazia Davino has confirmed that UK production is being threatened by the zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate targets imposed in January 2024.

Davino told delegates of the SMMT International Summit 2024: “Stellantis UK would not stop, but Stellantis production in the UK could stop.”

When asked whether the business could continue to grow in spite of the ZEV mandate targets, Davino said: “Yes, we can continue to grow. We can survive because we are fit for every circumstance. This is the way our company is set up, but in the UK, there will certainly be consequences on the production set up.

“We fight for our production in the UK, but you have to have advantages to build in a country. We have undertaken big investments. But if this market becomes [too difficult] for us, then we will consider producing elsewhere.”

It’s all to do with the way the mandate introduced yearly targets. Just to briefly recap, the ZEV mandate is legislation designed to ensure all new vehicles – so that’s cars and vans – sold in the UK from 2035 are emission-free. (Don’t worry, hydrogen fuel cell lovers, they mean ‘carbon emissions’ – you’ll still be allowed to spit water.)

The law sets annual sales targets for manufacturers to hit. So in 2024, 22 per cent of car makers’ sales need to be EVs. For every non-EV car sold beyond that target, brands will pay a whopping great fine of £15,000. Ouch. And to add a bit more salt, those targets increase to 28 per cent next year.

Stellantis’ problem – as with other major car manufacturers’ - is customer demand. We're just not buying as many EVs as the government or car brands would like.

Stellantis has a workaround that very much suits, er, Stellantis though. It’s proposed that it counts all the electric vehicles it’s making in the numbers, as well as the ones it’s selling. And ta-dah! that fixes the problem, because over in Ellesmere Port they’ve gone 100 per cent electric. That means all 50,000 all-electric vans produced in Cheshire could help Stellantis avoid lots of fifteen grand penalties.

What do you think should count towards the targets?