Image source, Getty Images
- Author, Faarea Masud
- Role, Business reporter, BBC News
The owner of Vauxhall, Citroën and Peugeot has warned it may halt UK production unless the government does more to boost demand for electric vehicles (EV).
Maria Grazia Davino, the boss of Stellantis, said the current government approach to the banning of petrol and diesel cars risked hurting its UK business.
She said a decision about whether to close Stellantis’s plants in Luton and at Ellesmere Port near Liverpool could come in “less than a year”.
“Stellantis UK does not stop, but Stellantis production in the UK could stop,” she told reporters at an industry conference on Tuesday.
Stellantis owns several other well-known car brands, including Fiat, Jeep, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Maserati and Opel.
The UK government initially set a goal of 2030 to ban sales of new petrol and diesel cars, but delayed the plan by five years to give consumers more time to make the transition to electric vehicles.
Explaining the decision, the prime minister said the “upfront cost” of EVs…
