- OEM lobbying against ZEV Mandate revealed
- Sherwoods nearly doubles 2024 profit to £1.8m
- Cambria introduces used EV battery checks
- Santander launches retailer EV training
- WEEK AHEAD: BRC shop price index
- Triumph and JCB face surprise US tariffs
- New HMRC rate for drivers claiming back public charging
- Short sellers focus on European OEMs
- Amazon and Hertz team up to sell used cars
- OPINION: Retailers: gatekeepers to OEM success
OEM lobbying against ZEV Mandate revealed
Major OEMs including BMW, JLR, Nissan and Toyota lobbied the government for a slower transition away from fossil fuels, an investigation has revealed. They claimed leaving the ZEV Mandate unchanged would threaten British jobs and cost them hundreds of millions of pounds.
JLR said the original rules would “materially damage UK producers’ ability to invest in vehicle lines”. Toyota said penalties “could amount to hundreds of millions of pounds for individual manufacturers, a level that could place employment and investment across the industry at risk”.
Nissan said OEMs needed more flexibilities or else face “critical levels” of costs that would divert money “away from battery EV research and development in the UK”.
BMW said: “The UK has already become a far more difficult place to produce vehicles now post-Brexit, and a further challenging market environment could ultimately damage competitiveness and have a detrimental effect on the 8000 jobs – up to 50,000 with supply chain – we currently retain in the UK.”
The responses were submitted to the government under consultation announced in December 2024 to explore proposed changes to the Mandate. They have been obtained under a Freedom of Information request by the Fast Charge newsletter.
Changes to the ZEV Mandate were subsequently announced in April 2025. They included hybrids getting the green light until 2035, exemptions for small manufacturers and widened flexibilities beyond the previous 2026 deadline.
SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said the ZEV Mandate “intensities the pressure with the timescale necessitating brands spend billions to drive demand to achieve compliance. UK manufacturers have consistently warned that this cost was unsustainable and would threaten further investment”.
The government, he added, was right to change previous targets, which would have meant “decarbonisation at the cost of de-industrialisation”.
Sherwoods nearly doubles 2024 profit to £1.8m
Tyne & Wear-based retailer Sherwoods has reported record profit before tax of £1.8m for the year ended December 2024. It is up from £1m in 2023. Turnover grew from £96.4m to £106.7m. New car profit grew 32% to a record level, while used car profit was up 68% to the second-best year on record.
During the year, the retailer added Fiat and Abarth at Gateshead and Sunderland, plus Leapmotor at Sunderland.
“We know 2025 is going to be tough with continued pressure on costs, interest rates still high, customer uncertainty and more, but we have a strong, well-performing business and a robust balance sheet, and will be more than able to ride out any storms,” said the directors.
“We will also be looking for further opportunities to grow our business should the opportunity arise, and we would, by this time next year, like to be able to report a new site to the group.”
Cambria introduces used EV battery checks
Cambria is to include a battery health check with all used EVs. It will roll out Generational battery tech technology at its Motorparks, Invicta and Grange brands.
“It’s clear to use that drivers are increasingly seeking a crystal-clear picture of the condition of an EV before they buy it,” said director Richard Hubbard, calling battery health checks “the new mileage and real-world performance indicator in the EV age”.
Santander launches retailer EV training
Santander Consumer UK is to help retailers capitalise on the EV transition with a new online training module. The aim is to equip sales teams with practical knowledge and tools as customers transition from ICE to EV.
“Our online training module helps sales teams tackle the most common EV-related concerns expressed by customers, including suitability, charging requirements, range anxiety and uncertainty over total cost of ownership,” said Santander commercial director Steve Franklin.
WEEK AHEAD
Tuesday, BRC shop price index
Friday, Nationwide house price index
DATA INSIGHT
Triumph and JCB face surprise US tariffs
25%: Tariffs now faced by firms producing goods in more than 400 new categories, announced last week, that technically contain steel or aluminium. Triumph chief executive Nick Bloor said the announcement was a “surprise, especially given the recently negotiated trade agreements”.
The completion of a UK-US trade deal on steel and aluminium is facing delays over White House concerns.
New HMRC rate for drivers claiming back public charging
12p: New per-mile rate drivers can claim back from 1 September when charging an EV using public networks. It’s 50% higher than the 8p per mile they can claim using home charging, and is the first time the Advisory Electric Rate (AER) has differentiated between the two.
GLOBAL AUTO
Short sellers focus on European OEMs
Hedge funds are taking short positions against European OEMs and parts suppliers in light of a market slowdown worsened by the US trade war and competition from Chinese rivals, reports the FT. French parts firm Valeo is Europe’s second-most shorted stock of all.
Shares out on loan, which is a proxy for short positioning, in autos and components have risen 35% in 2025. “Autos are in a bit of a mess,” the head of a London-based equity hedge fund told the FT.
Amazon and Hertz team up to sell used cars
Hertz Car Sales, the rental firm’s used car division, will start listing thousands of vehicles on Amazon Autos. Hertz becomes the first fleet dealer on Amazon Autos. Shares in several US auto retailers fell on the news; Carvana declined 5.9%.
OPINION
Retailers: gatekeepers to OEM success
With the new registration plate just a week away, it’s worth noting that this September there will be well over 50 SMMT-listed car brands on sale in the UK. Just five years ago there were fewer than 40.
The UK market is entering what can only be described as a Darwinian phase. With 25% more brands competing for a broadly stable two million annual registrations, not all can survive.
This point, in itself, is not new.
What will be interesting, and a possible determining factor as the OEMs jostle for a foothold, will be whether they can convince the UK’s dealer groups to back them.
This puts retailers in a position of unprecedented influence. The UK market can probably support around 40-45 reasonably significant brands. In the past, those who failed to reach scale were quietly absorbed, marginalised or exited. What’s different today is the sheer pace of new entrants, mostly EV-led challengers, some of whom may underestimate the importance of strong, well-capitalised retail partners.
Dealer groups know better than anyone that a just revealing a car is not enough. Without aftersales infrastructure, parts availability and a viable margin structure, customer trust quickly erodes. Retailers are also acutely aware of the risks to residual values if an OEM over-promises and under-delivers.
The winners of this shakeout will be the OEMs who treat retail groups not as distribution channels but as strategic partners, offering clarity on supply, transparency on margin and credible long-term plans for brand support and marketing. Retailers, for their part, will have to be selective. In an era of limited showroom space and tightening return on investment, chasing every shiny new entrant is a recipe for wasted capital.
The UK’s dealer groups will, in effect, decide which brands survive and which fade into obscurity. The OEMs who grasp that reality fastest will be the ones still here in 10 years.
Tristan Young
Editorial Director
Get in touch: tristan@autosunday.co.uk
ISSN 2977-6597