• GOVERNMENT PREPARES TO RELAX ZEV MANDATE
• BRIAN GILDA ‘HORRIFIED’ BY £450k NIC HIT
• AUTO TRADER AND SMMT LAUNCH EV ‘MYTH-BUSTER’
• WESSEX GARAGES IN 2024 LOSS
• JOE DUFFY MOTORS OWNER UPS VERTU STAKE TO 5%
• GROUP 1 AUTOMOTIVE STOCK AT ALL-TIME HIGH
• TOYOTA US ON ‘UNNATURAL’ EV DEMANDS
• STOCKWATCH
• COMING UP
• GOVERNMENT PLANS TO TAX ‘DEATH IN SERVICE’ PAYMENTS

Government prepares to relax ZEV mandate

Transport secretary Louise Haigh and business secretary Jonathan Reynolds will meet with the auto industry on Wednesday amid reports the government is preparing to relax rules around the ZEV mandate. It comes amid claims the sales quotas “have pushed car makers to crisis point”.

Haigh will also attend a bilateral meeting with Nissan today (Monday 18 November), where the OEM is expected to warn ministers the UK car industry has reached a “crisis point” with jobs and competitiveness at risk unless the government relaxes EV rules.

A report in the Sunday Times said that “all options” are on the table to help OEMs meet the targets and that ministers were “obviously live to” the situation. “Manufacturers have been quite frank how worried they are.”

One government source said that “the UK has become a hard place for manufacturers to do business… this is the beginning of a consultation to explore what we can do”.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said momentum was building in Whitehall to reform the ZEV mandate, making it more appealing for OEMs such as Stellantis to build vehicles in the UK.

Options include allowing OEMs to put British-made cars sold abroad towards their EV sales targets, and receiving credits for demonstrating carbon reduction in their factories. There was speculation over the weekend that EV purchase subsidies for private owners could return, while the SMMT has suggested halving the VAT on new EVs.

However, speaking to LBC on Sunday, Haigh insisted the government will not relax the targets – but could create new “flexibilities” to help manufacturers meet the targets.

“There are flexibilities in the current mandate, but we want to work with the manufacturing sector about whether these are working and whether we can address them… but the level of our ambition and the mandate will not be weakened.”

 

Brian Gilda ‘horrified’ by £450k NIC hit

Peoples chairman and MD Brian Gilda says the business faces a £450k hit due to Labour’s changes to National Insurance in the autumn Budget. “I was horrified – it’s gone down like a lead balloon,” Gilda told Auto Retail Agenda. “As a result, we have immediately stopped recruitment – we’ll now only take on people if absolutely required.” The business will, however maintain its apprentice programmes.

Echoing Gilda, Deutsche Bank has warned the chancellor’s NI changes would see around 100,000 jobs lost. “Given that the increase in NI contributions is ultimately a payroll tax, firms’ payroll decisions will come under significant scrutiny going forward,” said economist Sanjay Raja. “This won’t happen all at once. More likely, we will see declines in hiring and employment growth, with some firms adjusting more immediately to the increase in tax.”

https://tinyurl.com/u6ruynkn

 

Auto Trader and SMMT launch EV ‘myth-buster’

Auto Trader, ChargeUK and the SMMT have collaborated on a single set of agreed facts about EVs that have been endorsed by the DfT and OZEV. The aim is to combat misinformation around EVs.

The move follows a suggestion in the House of Lords’ report, ‘EV strategy: rapid recharge needed’, which called for a ‘go-to’ source of comprehensive, clear and balanced information for consumers.

The organisations are now encouraging retailers to share the facts as widely as possible.

https://tinyurl.com/3d3t5wfs

 

Wessex Garages in 2024 loss

Wessex Garages has posted a £1.4m loss for the year ended March 2024, down from a £2m profit in 2023. This is despite turnover increasing 16% from £223m to £259m. The business has net assets of £18.9m.

The directors say the business was unable to fully mitigate factors affecting the industry, including the decline of diesel, lack of alternatively-fuelled vehicle supply, poor EV adoption, plus the increase in minimum wage, pension costs, inflation, interest rates and the general economic uncertainty.

Wages and pension costs increased by £550k, or 4.3%, while interest costs rose from £154k to £632k.

 

Joe Duffy Motors owner ups Vertu stake to 5%

Gavin Hydes, who owns Ireland’s Joe Duffy Motors, has increased his stake in Vertu to over 5%, through his investment company Nivag Holdings. He initially passed the 3% ownership threshold a year ago. Shares in Vertu have declined more than 27% in the past 12 months.

https://tinyurl.com/4tfv9wwb

 

 

 

 

 

WORLD NEWS

Group 1 Automotive stock at all-time high

Group 1 Automotive’s share price last week soared to an all-time high of $418. Over the past year, it is up 43.8%. Its Q3 revenue hit a record $5.2bn. Its financial performance has been boosted by acquiring 54 Inchcape UK retailers, adding $2.7bn to its annual revenue.

https://tinyurl.com/yjms74jd

 

Toyota US on ‘unnatural’ EV demands

Toyota North America COO Jack Hollis has called US EV mandates “an attempt to change the entire landscape of the industry, to remove customer choice”. Legislation in California will require 35% of 2026 model year cars sold to be zero-emission, and 100% by 2035.

The mandates will “distort the industry and distort the business… because it’s unnatural to where the current demand in the marketplace is”. Toyota will instead continue to focus on hybrids and PHEVs as well as EVs; last month, for the first time, more than half of Toyotas sold in the US were electrified.

https://tinyurl.com/y4rww62h

 

 

STOCKWATCH

Closing prices on 15 November 2024 and weekly change

Auto Trader Group 795.0p (+17.4p / +2.2%)

Caffyns 450.0p (n/c)

Halfords 139.8p (-4.4p / -3.0%)

Motorpoint 128.5p (-6.5p / -4.9%)

Pinewood 327.0p (-8.5p / -2.5%)

Vertu 61.0p (-6.0p / -9.3%)

 

 

COMING UP

Wednesday, CPI and RPI

Thursday, Close Brothers Group trading update

Friday, GFK consumer confidence

Friday, UK retail sales

 

 

MONEY MATTERS

Government plans to tax ‘death in service’ payments

Families face having to pay inheritance tax on ‘death in service’ benefits paid out when someone dies, the Sunday Times has revealed. The Autumn Budget saw inheritance tax for pensions removed, and now tax-free death in service payments may be counted for inheritance tax purposes, as one of 18 ‘death benefits’ the government is proposing could be subject to IHT from April 2027.

https://tinyurl.com/77k9wbhy

 

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