Ford, BMW, JLR call for 'clarity' amid U.K. plan to relax 2030 ICE ban

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.

"We need the policy focus trained on bolstering the EV market in the short term and supporting consumers while headwinds are strong: infrastructure remains immature, tariffs loom and cost-of-living is high," Brankin said.

Ford in 2021 said it would only sell fully electric passenger vehicles in Europe by the end of the decade. The automaker, which operates component factories in the U.K., is investing £380 million ($470 million) at its Halewood plant to make EV parts.

BMW, JLR 'clarity needed'

The original proposed 2030 ICE ban said hybrid cars powered by a combustion engine and an electric motor would be allowed to be sold up to the end of 2034 if they have a "significant zero-emission capability," meaning a long driving range on electric power alone. But the proposal did not give a clear definition of the required zero-emission range.

BMW said the auto industry needed clarity on zero-emission vehicles. 

"We cannot comment on speculation, but can say that we and the whole automotive industry needs clarity in the zero-emission vehicle topic," a spokesperson for BMW in the U.K. said on Wednesday.

BMW builds Mini and Rolls-Royce cars in the U.K.

Jaguar Land Rover said it would welcome certainty on Britain's climate policy.

The automaker, which is owned by India's Tata Motors, is Britain's biggest automaker by production.

The U.K. auto industry's trade body, the SMMT, said the transition to electric cars in Britain will be hindered by any confusion over climate policy.

"The automotive industry has and continues to invest billions in new electric vehicles as the decarbonisation of road transport is essential if net zero is to be delivered," SMMT CEO Mike Hawes said.

"To make this a reality, however, consumers must want to make the switch, which requires from government a clear, consistent message, attractive incentives and charging infrastructure that gives confidence rather than anxiety," he added. "Confusion and uncertainty will only hold them back."

The U.K. car industry has been struggling to attract meaningful investment in EV making and battery plants, despite recent commitments by Jaguar Land Rover-parent Tata Group and by BMW to make electric Minis at Oxford.

Bloomberg contributed to this report