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EV subsidy 'under threat'
29 June 2010
The planned £5000 green car subsidy and government support for the British car industry could be under threat, according to new business secretary Vince Cable.
Cable was speaking at Toyota’s Derbyshire plant for the launch of the new Auris hybrid when he said that the government has not yet made a decision on whether it will implement the £5000 per car, low emissions subsidy that was promised by Gordon Brown’s previous Labour government.
The grant is something many manufacturers say is essential if Britain is to become a world centre for the production of low emission vehicles.
Cable went on to say that Britain’s carmakers were no longer in an “emergency situation”, and the government “can’t go round waving a chequebook at British industry”.
Cable also mentioned General Motors’ plan to build the Vauxhall/Opel Ampera at Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port plant in Merseyside, saying that GM has not yet approached the government for a grant but that such a project “shouldn’t depend on government support” and “we can’t give money to every company that asks for it”.
This comes after the new coalition government secured financial support for Nissan and Ford to further develop new technologies earlier this month.
Tom Gregory
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