Sunak Seeks Delay To Brexit Rules To Bolster Car Industry

Rishi Sunak’s government is understood to be lobbying the EU to delay a change in manufacturing rules in the Brexit trade deal after Vauxhall’s parent company warned it could shut its UK factories.

- ADAM FORREST ARCHIE MITCHELL

Stellantis said it will be unable to keep a commitment to make electric vehicles in the UK without changes to Boris Johnson’s Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA).

Business secretary Kemi Badenoch has raised the issue with her Brussels counterpart and held a pre-arranged meeting with Stellantis chiefs yesterday. She has also raised the motor industry’s concerns about the TCA with chancellor Jeremy Hunt and foreign secretary James Cleverly, according to Whitehall sources.

The government is lobbying the EU to delay a 2024 deadline for changes in how much an electric car should be manufactured in the UK. The intervention comes as Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said “we need a better Brexit deal” with the EU to ensure firms such as Vauxhall can continue to operate in the UK.

Stellantis has called on the government to reach an agreement with the EU to maintain existing rules until 2027 – rather than 2024’s planned changes which state 45 per cent of an electric car’s value should originate in the UK or EU to qualify for trade without tariffs. Without meeting the requirements, cars manufactured in the UK would be hit with a 10 per cent tariff, making domestic production and exports uncompetitive with cars built elsewhere.