Automakers are building green vehicles that ‘nobody wants’ to meet environmental goals, says dealer chain director

Automakers are being forced to build vehicles that drivers “don’t want” to meet green targets, one of the country’s largest dealership chains has warned.

Under rules introduced by the previous Tory government, 22 per cent of new cars sold next year will have to be zero-emission, rising to 80 per cent by 2030.

According to Robert Forrester, CEO of Vertu Motors, this means that car manufacturers are producing vehicles that many drivers don’t want.

“Some franchises have a restriction on the supply of petrol and hybrid cars, while that is precisely what the demand is for,” he said yesterday.

“It’s almost like we can’t deliver the cars that people want, but we have plenty of cars that they might not want at all.”

The slowing demand for electric cars is having an impact on business, he added, as automakers are building these greener models faster than motorists want to buy them.

Vertu warned first-half profits would fall after new car sales fell 5.8 percent in the five months to July 31.

But the group, which has 192 showrooms in the UK, saw used car sales rise 5.5 percent, helping group revenue rise 3.3 percent.

Vertu remains ‘strongly focused on cost and efficiency’ as higher staff wages add to cost pressures, with plans to trial automation of a number of administrative and financial tasks in the coming months.