Stellantis threatens to halt production in UK over electric vehicle row

By Nuran Erkul Kaya

LONDON (AA) - Vauxhall’s owner Stellantis has warned it may have to suspend production in the UK amid new electric vehicle mandates, the automaker's top UK executive said Tuesday.

Stellantis will close its production plants at Ellesmere Port near Liverpool and Luton near London in “less than a year” unless the government relaxes electric vehicle sales quotas, said Maria Grazia Davino, managing director for the UK.

Noting that the company has made big investments in Britain, Davino said: "But if this market becomes hostile for us we will enter an evaluation of producing elsewhere."

"Stellantis UK does not stop. Stellantis production in the UK could stop."

The UK has introduced rules requiring that 22% of new cars and 10% of new vans sold by each manufacturer in the UK this year should be zero-emission.

Stellantis sold nearly 216,000 new cars in the UK in 2023, or some 11% of the total market.