LONDON -- Britain risks undermining the country's transition to electric vehicles if the government relaxes its current target to ban new gasoline and diesel car sales by 2030, Ford’s U.K. Chair Lisa Brankin said.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is this week expected to delay some of the government policies which underpin Britain's long-term plan to reach net zero emissions by 2050, including pushing back to 2035 the non-electric car ban.
The 2030 date is more ambitious than the European Union's plan to require new cars sold after 2035 to be zero emissions, effectively banning the sale of new gasoline and diesel models in the bloc that Britain left in 2020.
Ford said dropping the 2030 deadline would be a mistake and hinted that it could put further investments at risk. "The U.K. 2030 target is a vital catalyst to accelerate Ford into a cleaner future," Brankin said.
"Our business needs three things from the U.K. government: ambition, commitment and consistency. A relaxation of 2030 would undermine all three," Brankin said in a statement on Wednesday.
Ford said it had already invested 430 million pounds ($531 million) in its U.K. facilities and had been planning further investments to fit with the 2030 timeline.