Peugeot now offers an electric version of each of its cars
CEO Linda Jackson says “there are only so many things we can do as a manufacturer” to boost EV uptake
Peugeot CEO Linda Jackson says the government should find ways to “stimulate” the market for new and used electric cars, in order to accelerate the transition from ICE to EV power.
Speaking to Autocar at the Brussels motor show, Jackson said Peugeot’s eight-strong passenger EV line-up is the “largest of any European manufacturer”, and hailed the 400-plus-mile ranges of the new e-3008 and e-5008 as a sign of the real-world usability of the brand’s electric cars.
She also highlighted that Peugeot was compliant with the UK’s zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate last year – both as part of the Stellantis group and in its own right, notching up an EV sales mix of more than 22%. Thirty-one per cent of sales of the new 3008 have been for the electric version in the UK.
Peugeot has “all the tools to attack 2025”, said Jackson, but added that state support is still needed to help grow EV sales.
“There are only so many things we can do as a manufacturer,” said Jackson. “We’ve got the products, we’ve got the ranges, we’ve got the customer experience and we’ve got competitive offers in the market – because we wouldn’t be achieving the mandate and achieving a level of market share on BEVs if we didn’t have the right level of competitiveness.
“But I think then we need some help from governments, don’t we? I mean, there are only so many things a manufacturer can do. I think inevitably we need a little bit of help from the government to stimulate the market. So hopefully we may see something.”
Currently, there are no government-backed incentives for private electric car buyers in the UK, despite the ZEV mandate requiring manufacturers to achieve a 26% EV sales mix in 2025, rising to 33% in 2026 and then in increments to 80% in 2030 – when the sale of new pure-combustion cars will be banned.
Last year, although the UK overtook Germany to become Europe’s biggest EV market, electric vehicles accounted for just 19.4% of new car registrations, some way short of the 22% mandate.
Jackson said bumping up that share to the levels mandated over the coming years will require a degree of state support, which has been effectively non-existent since the plug-in car grant was axed in 2022.
Asked what sort of support she would like to see, Jackson said: “I’m not going to go into whether it’s tariffs or whether it’s incentives – I don’t know what it is, and I don’t want to enter that debate at the moment, because there are many discussions going on, and I’m not part of those discussions specifically for the UK. But I think it’s obvious that what we’re looking for is something to stimulate the market.”
Other industry bosses who have advocated for government support of EV sales include former VW Group UK managing director Alex Smith, who said last year he supports “well-targeted, specific and realistic incentives to signal that decarbonisation of road transportation is the aim and that battery-electric vehicles are a very, very significant tool in achieving that”.
Vauxhall MD James Taylor concurred, arguing: “The government should redistribute some of the benefits of company car taxation, which is vast and heavily weighted towards more expensive cars, and put that into some form of incentives for private retail customers for more affordable small and family cars.”
Peugeot and Vauxhall’s sibling brand Fiat, meanwhile, introduced its own electric car ‘grant’ in 2023, slashing £3000 from the price of the electric 500 in a bid to drive uptake.
And Mike Hawes, CEO of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, has long called for more incentives to be put in place to encourage private buyers into EVs – namely reduced VAT on public EV charging.
Jackson said there is a particular need to stimulate the second-hand electric car market, “because that’s also a way to introduce people into electric vehicles, and I think that’s important”.
Peugeot itself is on a drive to bolster the appeal of second-hand EVs by attaching an eight-year warranty to each electric car it sells – which transfers from owner to owner – and avoiding discounting in an attempt to shore up residual values.
Jackson said the eight-year warranty is part of a drive to give “reassurance” to prospective EV buyers and “make moving to electric not stressful”.
“Going back to how we persuade customers to move into electric vehicles – when you talk to customers, there are a number of considerations,” she said.
“One is the range – well, I think we’ve answered that one – but also they’re unsure about maintenance. We all say there’s less maintenance but is it true or not?
“We just thought that this is the right time for us to be really looking after our customers and give them that reassurance that they haven’t got to worry about it.”
Source: Autocar
