What a great scoop. Congrats. My thoughts... at this stage the incumbent car makers are wasting a lot of time and effort on trying to save the horses after they have well and truly bolted. Closing the gate at this stage will make zero difference to the direction of travel under open market conditions for whatever type of car drivers want to buy/lease. In fact it astounds me how these companies cannot recognise that they have to compete for the future. At this point all these companies are doing is trying to delay the inevitable that will happen anyway, mandate scrapped or not. They should focus 100% of their efforts on taking on the looming threat of China. Their mistake was not being proactive to it years ago in many cases. The mandate should not be scrapped because, I suspect, it's the one thing that might actually save these companies from digging their own graves at this stage.
Sorry to see BMW in that list. Genuinely think that their EV model range and build platform means they’re one of the few European manufacturers with the potential to take on the Chinese.
The attitude of the manufacturers is quite frustrating to say the least. Delaying the transition to electric won’t do them any favours, except in the short term. The legacy manufacturers and retailers are just dragging their heels - most advertising I see is usually for hybrid cars; look on a garage forecourt and it’s petrol and hybrids sat front and centre. They’ve already been given an inch and now they want to take a mile…
If Norway can get to 97% electric sales, then why can’t we?
DO you see much differentiation across the approach taken by different car manufacturers? How much is the approach of those with operations in the UK driven by what is happening in their respective main export markets?
JLR I think, is driven by what the US is doing, though I think most others largely follow Europe. The real issue is that there is no European carmaker that looks like a real leader, all following each other's tails. Very weak leadership. To quote Wall Street... Sheep get slaughtered.
Yes - maybe. On a related topic, and just in case you are interested, my most recent essay on my substack (which covers climate change/cost issues) is in relation to the costs of EV's compared to petrol cars, and why a transition to EV's should make sense in the UK even for those who have no interest in mitigating climate change as a policy and are very sceptical of material from the CCC https://kevinlangford1.substack.com/p/are-evs-cheaper-as-well-as-greener
What a great scoop. Congrats. My thoughts... at this stage the incumbent car makers are wasting a lot of time and effort on trying to save the horses after they have well and truly bolted. Closing the gate at this stage will make zero difference to the direction of travel under open market conditions for whatever type of car drivers want to buy/lease. In fact it astounds me how these companies cannot recognise that they have to compete for the future. At this point all these companies are doing is trying to delay the inevitable that will happen anyway, mandate scrapped or not. They should focus 100% of their efforts on taking on the looming threat of China. Their mistake was not being proactive to it years ago in many cases. The mandate should not be scrapped because, I suspect, it's the one thing that might actually save these companies from digging their own graves at this stage.
Thank you very much. Yes, I totally agree. I'm sure it is hard for them to move the oil tanker, but not doing so makes no sense.
Great work Tom. Excellent scoop.
Sorry to see BMW in that list. Genuinely think that their EV model range and build platform means they’re one of the few European manufacturers with the potential to take on the Chinese.
The attitude of the manufacturers is quite frustrating to say the least. Delaying the transition to electric won’t do them any favours, except in the short term. The legacy manufacturers and retailers are just dragging their heels - most advertising I see is usually for hybrid cars; look on a garage forecourt and it’s petrol and hybrids sat front and centre. They’ve already been given an inch and now they want to take a mile…
If Norway can get to 97% electric sales, then why can’t we?
Well, exactly. Whenever I go to a dealer, there is zero effort or understanding of EVs.
DO you see much differentiation across the approach taken by different car manufacturers? How much is the approach of those with operations in the UK driven by what is happening in their respective main export markets?
JLR I think, is driven by what the US is doing, though I think most others largely follow Europe. The real issue is that there is no European carmaker that looks like a real leader, all following each other's tails. Very weak leadership. To quote Wall Street... Sheep get slaughtered.
Though I guess UK manufacuring is as much Asian owned - JLR, Nissan - as European. So maybe not so much sheep as facing a similar economic challenge?
Perhaps. Maybe we have to accept, like most other goods in the UK, the amount of making we do will end up being much smaller.
Yes - maybe. On a related topic, and just in case you are interested, my most recent essay on my substack (which covers climate change/cost issues) is in relation to the costs of EV's compared to petrol cars, and why a transition to EV's should make sense in the UK even for those who have no interest in mitigating climate change as a policy and are very sceptical of material from the CCC https://kevinlangford1.substack.com/p/are-evs-cheaper-as-well-as-greener