A third of dealers report ‘insufficient demand’ for EVs

A third of dealers believe that the current market demand for electric vehicles is insufficient compared to the available supply.

That was a key finding from a survey from Startline which found that 31% said demand for EVs is insufficient.

The survey found that 71% of dealers say that not enough is being done to support the UK motor industry’s transition to electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing.

The oversupply in the market has led to a decline in the value of used EVs. According to Auto Trader, the value of a used electric vehicle (EV) averaged £33,060 in mid-March, down -13% on the same period last year.

In contrast, the average prices of used petrol (£16,102) and diesel (£16,236) cars rose 4.3% and 2.4%, respectively, according to data from Auto Trader.

Paul Burgess, CEO at Startline Motor Finance, said: “Electrification is the single biggest change to motor manufacturing we are likely to see in our lifetimes and has a fundamental effect on how and where manufacturers build cars.

“Motorcycle manufacturing remains a cornerstone of the UK economy but there is clearly a general perception among dealers that not enough is being done to ensure that we maintain the base that we have, let alone expand it.

“Brexit is clearly the issue here, having only made the UK a more difficult place for the big manufacturers to make vehicles, but there also seems to be little industrial strategy to convince automakers this is still a great place to have. factory.

“If you look at our volume manufacturing base, only Nissan and Stellantis are fully committed to making electric vehicles here while bad news isn’t hard to find, especially with Ford’s recent loss of research and development jobs.”

The main problem, say 40% of dealers, is that insufficient battery production capacity is being made while 31% report that sufficient consumer demand for EVs does not yet exist.
Startline Used Car Tracker is compiled monthly for Startline Motor Finance by APD Global Research. This time, 306 consumers and 62 dealers were examined.