UK should scrap ‘stupid’ ban on petrol cars to close EU trade deal, says Renault boss

The UK should get rid of a “stupid” ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars in order to close a trade deal with the European Union, the chief of Renault has said.

Speaking to The Sunday Times, Renault CEO François Provost said if the UK wishes to join the EU’s Made in Europe industrial programme it should rethink the current pledge to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2030, while permitting hybrid car sales until 2035.

“What is a good date for 100 per cent electric?” Mr Provost said. “There is no good date because it’s stupid to ban non-electric cars. It is stupid.”

Downing Street has said inclusion in the EU’s Made in Europe scheme would be “good news” for Britain’s car industry, despite a report in The Guardian suggesting it would be conditional on Britain aligning with the EU’s position on tariffs for Chinese-made electric vehicles.

So far, Britain has resisted pressure from Europe to impose such tariffs, with trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds saying decisions on tariffs would be “based on the UK interest”.

But Mr Provost said the UK would need to fall in line with tariffs on Chinese imports if it wanted access to the scheme.

France and Germany have reportedly put forward a proposal to allow the UK’s automotive industry to be included in the protectionist scheme, known formally as the Industrial Accelerator Act.

Asked about the reports on Friday, a Number 10 spokesperson said the government would “welcome the objective to have the UK included in the Industrial Accelerator Act”.

She said it would be “good news for the British automotive industry and the jobs and investment it supports across the UK” but that there is “still a European process to run”.

Mr Provost said the UK’s automotive industry is at a “kind of tipping point”: “Obviously the UK has to be together with the EU. We have been in the same ecosystem for automotive for decades. So from a business perspective, from an industry perspective, this is just common sense.”

But he said industrial ambition for Europe’s car industry means being “realistic on electrification, but to continue electrification”, adding: “We have to freeze regulations now in order to decrease the price paid by customers.”

Andy Burnham warned earlier this week that the Made in Europe scheme presented “risks to British manufacturing” and promised to raise concerns about its impact on UK automotive firms with the bloc.

The programme is intended to protect clean technology firms and electric vehicle manufacturers from cheap Chinese competition.

The EU has already moved to limit imports of Chinese electric vehicles, including by imposing tariffs, and replicating those levies could be the price of the UK’s inclusion in Made in Europe.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has been contacted for comment.