Discounts, more launches of small cars and unlikely alliances are all viable tactics for those car makers least strong on EVs as they look to comply with the government order that states almost one in every four cars they sell next year must be electric.
Car makers have to boost demand from the average 16% EV share in the UK to the end of September to 22% next year or face fines of £15,000 for every car they are shy of the target.
Several brands – including Ford, Toyota, Suzuki, Mazda, Honda and Land Rover – recorded EV sales of between 0-3% of their total in the 12 months to the end of September, according to figures from market analysts Dataforce.
Without higher EV sales from sibling brands to offset their shortfall, these car makers will be in danger of having to shell out fines totalling millions if they can’t find a way sell more electric cars or offset the shortfall using some of the loopholes allowed by...
