Auto industry criticizes UK plan to bring forward ban on combustion-engine cars

The UK government’s decision to bring forward a ban on sale of combustion engine cars, including hybrids, to 2035 has been sharply criticized by the country’s automakers association, the SMMT.

Britain will ban the sale of new gasoline, diesel and hybrid cars five years earlier than planned, Prime Minister Boris Johnson will say on Tuesday as he announces details of a U.N. climate summit due to take place in Glasgow in November.

The ban, which had been slated for 2040, includes plug-in hybrids, the BBC reported.

The SMMT expressed anger that the government is announcing the change without including additional government support to help the UK’s auto industry, which is still reeling from the effects of more than three years of uncertainty following the Brexit vote in 2016.

Via Automotive News