This post was originally published on Autocar
UK boss says funds from company car tax should be used to provide incentives for cheaper EVs for private buyers
Vauxhall has called on the government to do more to help support private buyers of affordable electric cars, even if that requires redistributing some of the money used to support electric company cars.
Company cars continue to account for the bulk of all EVs sold in the UK, with buyers boosted by tax benefits and incentives. By contrast, there have been no incentives for private EV buyers since the £1500 Plug-in Car Grant was axed in 2022.
The government is currently mulling changes to the zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate – but has insisted that it won’t back down from its ultimate target of banning the sale of new pure-ICE vehicles by 2035.
Yet it’s also due to start applying vehicle excise duty (VED) to EVs from next April, raising the cost of running an EV.
Vauxhall has so far enjoyed strong sales for the EV versions of the Corsa, Mokka and Astra and in 2025 will add EV versions of the new Frontera and Grandland in the crucial C-SUV market. Notably, the Frontera Electric will be priced from just £23,495.
MD James Taylor said that further sales growth among private buyers could be accelerated with further support from the government.
“Ultimately we need the government to do more to help support more people considering buying an electric car, especially in the retail marketplace and at the lower price end,” Taylor told Autocar.
“For me, the government should redistribute some of the benefits of company car taxation, which is vast and heavily weighted towards more expensive cars, and put that into some form of incentives for private retail customers for more affordable small and family cars.
“Just giving that little nudge would have a significant impact on the percentage of customers wanting to buy an electric car – and it’s important to reward people for what we would all consider to be doing the right thing for the long term, which is moving to a greener future.”
Taylor added that the interest in the new Frontera – on which there’s price parity between the electric and basic petrol versions – ahead of it going on sale showed there is demand for affordable EVs.
“It’s probably the strongest pre-launch in terms of hand raises and so on that we’ve had in a long time,” he said. “It’s already about one in four of our web searches, which just shows the importance of that segment of the market.”
Taylor said that the Frontera, along with the Grandland, was “critical” for Vauxhall’s future EV growth, especially with ZEV mandate targets due to rise to 28% next year.
“We’ve had really good EV sales this year, but that was with three cars competing in less than half the market. The Frontera and Grandland effectively double the opportunity for us.
“We need that, because we will be compliant [with the ZEV mandate], and therefore your total sales are dependent on the number of electric cars that that you can sell.
“So the fact that we’ve got two new cars in the biggest electric part of the market is going to give us a big, big opportunity to really expand our customer base.”